


When The Lights Go Out, Will You Take Me With You?

by Velocity_Owl87



Category: One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Forced Bonding, Hopeful Ending, Imprisonment, Injury Recovery, Introspection, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Medical Inaccuracies, Minor Character Death, Multi, Physical Disability, Slice of Life, Social Issues, Strangers to Lovers, Trust Issues, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-06-08 00:45:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6832042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the population of the UK dropping drastically, Middle Class and Lower Class Omegas are interned in "Facilities" where, under government mandate, Alphas have to go and pick a mate or risk heavy penalities. </p><p>Lia Payne is one of these Omegas. After a brutal car accident left her without her family and confined to a wheelchair, she has no hope of ever being picked for someone's mate. Resigned to her lot, she considers the Assignment days a dull chore. </p><p>Until a shy, beautiful Alpha shows up and turns all of Lia's expectations upside down, while giving her some hope for the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Maybe This Day I'll Make It

**Author's Note:**

> I was in Ireland recently and the Magdalen Laundries came up in conversation as well as Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tales" and those two threads of thought inspired this. I honestly don't know why I wanted a girl!Liam in this verse, but I've been curious to write one. I also was wondering if in a situation like this, what would happen to people with disabilities and how would they cope. I do research, I'm not a doctor/nurse, so if things are wrong, my apologies. 
> 
> Title is from "Summertime" By MCR.

_ West Yorkshire Omega Holding Facility _

It was only starting to get light when Lia opened her eyes and squinted at the plain and serviceable clock hanging on the wall of her room. It was a small mercy that she had a single room. Most of the Omegas in the West Yorkshire Omega Facility had to sleep in a twelve to sixteen bed dormitory for the duration of their stay. But not Lia. There were perks to being one of the oldest residents in the facility.

Sighing heavily, she grabbed a hold of the bar above her bed and hauled herself up to a sitting position. Once she was settled, she rubbed her eyes and looked at the large self-sticking calendar and swore quietly when she noticed what day it was. 

Assignment Day. 

One of the most dreaded days at the Facility, since it meant being paraded over to the auditorium and looked over by a herd of unhappy Alphas before their number was halved and the process started over again. Lia hated those days, since it meant that she wouldn’t even be noticed, despite the efforts of their caretakers and only the newest and prettiest Omegas would be chosen. She only had a few more of these chances before the government decided on her fate. At the most, she would simply stay on at the Facility and become a carer for the Omegas that were sure to follow. 

With the draconian laws of the population decrees firmly in place and not going anywhere soon, the Facilities would stay open. The not so pretty, leftover Omegas could stay behind as caretakers after they had been bred out or sold to brothels as a last resort if they proved unable to produce litters. It was an unfair and cruel end for Omegas and Lia hated it. 

Hated that her entire future depended on whether she would catch the eye of an Alpha and produce litter after litter until the Alpha was satisfied. 

Lia made an irritated noise in the back of her throat as she pushed the covers back and prepared to transfer herself from the bed to her wheelchair. She paused in her movements and looked at it, trying to swallow the bitterness that flooded her mouth whenever she saw it. That chair had been both her salvation and prison since she had turned seventeen, when a harried office manager had ran a red light and smashed into the family car. 

Lia’s glad she doesn’t remember the accident or much afterwards. She was sure then, just like she is sure now, she wouldn’t have been able to come to terms with it as well as she had if she had clear memories of her parents and one of her sisters gone. Of how the government had forced her remaining Beta sister, Ruth, to sign her over to the Facility she had been delivered to after rehab and college had been completed. 

Lia had accepted all of that much more easily than being told she was trapped in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. The loss of her family had cut her deep, but the knowledge that she was to be treated like a child for the rest of her life due to her status and now her disability had done a number on her. Ruth being around helped, but she had her own life and Lia couldn’t blame her for moving on with it. She would have done the same if circumstances had been different. But for her, they weren’t.  That cutting off of her hope and independence was what had sent her into a numb spiral of shock that only in her mid twenties she had been able to finally come out of.  But by then, it had been too late. She had been passed over too many times to hope that she would ever become someone’s mate. 

The best she could hope for was to be useful in the same place that was both her prison and her purpose in living. 

She had had dreams, when she was younger that it would change. That she would be chosen by an Alpha that would click with her. But as the years passed, Lia became resigned and instead, withdrew into the world of comic books and music. If she was able to keep that, she would be able to cope with whatever else the world threw at her.

She knew that they were just empty condolences to make herself feel better, but she still uttered them, since they did help her to get through the day. Not to mention that they helped to get the bitterness out of her mouth and push all of the pity aside. 

She took a deep breath then and transferred into her chair, carefully putting her legs onto the footrests and wheeling herself to the ensuite to get ready for the day. 

Once she had gotten through her routine and tamed her hair into a french braid that hung halfway down her back, she returned to her room and got dressed into the outfit that they all had to wear for that day: A close fitting, plain blue dress with long sleeves and white cuffs. Lia thanked the prudish tendencies of the government for making the dresses long and full skirted, so that all that showed where her plain black shoes. It wasn’t anything glamorous, but it was better than being displayed naked like other places in the world. 

“Good enough.” Lia muttered as she fixed a few loose curls behind her ears and headed downstairs for breakfast and then for the matron to call them into the auditorium. 

Just like the time before and countless times before that. 

~*~*~*~*

Zayn was barely awake when he stumbled downstairs to get a cuppa and some of his mum’s eggs and turkey bacon. In fact, the only thought in his mind was to get some caffeine and food into his system before he simply passed out again. He had no other goals for that morning other than to get ready to go to his studio and get working on the Bradford Council announcements. Not glamorous, but hey, it paid the bills and allowed him to focus on his real passion of painting. He had made some sales and was hopeful that he would be able to forge a career as a painter with time. 

“Morning, love. I’ve got the kettle on. I’ve got the eggs and bacon there. Help yourself.”

His mum’s voice broke through his morning sleepiness and he smiled at her, giving her a peck on the cheek as he went past her and grabbed a plate to serve himself from the platters they used for meals.  He hummed happily when he saw that there was toast also and snagged a couple of slices before sitting down on the left hand of the table. He was about to start to eat when his mum put both a mug of tea and a large white envelope with a dark blue smudged stamp on the corner.  

He inhaled sharply at seeing the smudged stamp, making his mum pause and sit down across from him. 

“When did it get here?” He asked roughly. His mother sighed as she rested her arms on the table and folded her fingers together. 

“Just last afternoon when you were at work.” 

Zayn nodded and sighed heavily. He had been expecting it, really. Louis already had gotten his summons to report to the nearest Omega home and pick up his assignation and at least there was the small mercy that they could choose their own partners. But they had to choose someone within thirty days or they would be fined heavily and their partner chosen at random. It was rare, but it did happen with enough frequency that it became a warning to other Alphas of age. 

Yet even though he had been expecting it, he still wasn’t really ready to go to an Omega home and pick his life- mate. Yet he knew he had no choice. He had to go. There was no way that he nor his parents could afford the fines that would be levied if he didn’t go. It was a necessary evil that he had to comply with and that was the end of it. 

Biting his lip, he picked up the envelope and ripped it open, pulling out the multicoloured sheets folded inside. He gave the first a cursory glance, noting the place and time he was supposed to present himself, which was, he noticed with a groan, today at two in the afternoon. It was going to slow down his work, but at least he didn’t have to explain to anyone why he had to leave work early. 

He noted the location as well, wincing when he saw where the Facility was located. He dimly recalled that it was close to the school he had spent some unhappy years in and dimly wondered when exactly it had been built. He snorted when he found himself thinking of that inanity and instead folded the letter and pushed it in his back pocket. The next letters were pamphlets on picking a proper mate and other garbage, while the last one was a red and green striped certificate that had his name pre-printed on it as well as his birthdate, age, place of residence and occupation. The rest of the certificate was blank and that made Zayn go cold when he understood that he was to fill it out today. 

“You don’t have to do it today, Zayn. You have a month.” 

His mother’s quiet voice reminded him. But Zayn shook his head. 

“It has to be today, mum. I know myself. If I don’t get it done now, I’m going to bail out. I know me. It’s better that I do it today.”

His mother pressed her lips into a taut line, but didn’t say anything else about the topic and went back to the kitchen, leaving Zayn alone with his thoughts. 

He hadn’t been lying about needing to pick a mate today. The sooner he ripped off that plaster, the better it would be for him and for whatever poor Omega that ended up being his mate. He didn’t know much about the Facilities, but he knew enough that many of the Omegas weren’t there by choice. Most had been coerced into being there. Many had been handed over under pressure. Some had been snatched up from foster homes or from relatives that couldn’t take care of their Omegas on their own. Most were poor and unable to come up with the money required for permits and dowries that would make sure that their Omega relatives were assured a decent partner. 

Zayn laughed mirthlessly at the irony of it all. He wasn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. He hadn’t made enough money to attract the kind of Omegas he wanted to mate. The pampered ones with soft skin and faces like the girls in the magazines. The kind that would provide good litters and bring in dowries that would help not just him, but the rest of his littermates. It had only been a trick of biology that had him on the outside of those walls rather than an inmate of them. 

He knew that and he was fully aware his parents thanked their lucky stars that his sisters had been born Betas and escaped that fate. There would have been no way that they would have been able to scrape up dowries for five Omegas. Shuddering slightly at the what if’s, Zayn firmly pushed the thought aside and started to work on his still warm breakfast. He wouldn’t think about what he had to do anymore. Two o’clock would come soon enough. 

~*~*~*~*~

Lia smoothed down the skirt over her thighs and stifled a sigh as she surreptitiously glanced at the clock on the wall of the auditorium. They were only halfway through the Assignment Day and she was already getting tired and wanting to go back to her room and shut the door. Omegas were, as a rule, supposed to stay in the auditorium for three hours during the day.  She had done two and a half of her mandatory time and had been able to wrangle out of it in the past when it had become obvious that no Alphas or Betas were looking at her.

Yet this year was different and the Matron had outright refused her request to leave early. In fact, Lia was sure that the Matron had something up her sleeve. 

Lia chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about that, her hand going to the backpack slung on the handlebars of her chair. Inside were the comics that Lia knew were outright bribes. Matron definitely wanted her to stay since the hall was looking a hell of a lot emptier than Lia had ever recalled in her years at the Facility. It was surprising to see that and she had to grudgingly admit that the Matron was right in having her stay in the hall. Some of the Omegas that had been passed by at least four times in Lia’s recollection had been picked and Lia had felt the first stirrings of hope that maybe it would be her turn this time around. She had quashed them ruthlessly, but she had to admit that maybe this time, it wasn’t such a crazy thing to hope for.

She didn’t want to think about that and reached into the bag, carefully fishing out one of the graphic novels and exclaiming quietly over the glossy newness of it. Journey into Mystery, the tales of Sif. It had been on her list for ages and Lia was damned sure it was a bribe. She glanced at the clock again, but with no real interest as she flipped the cover open. She could definitely kill the rest of the time easily with this. 

Settling down to read, she lost track of the quiet murmurs and shuffling around her. Lia ignored them, the noises becoming distant as she got deeper and deeper into the story. All she cared about at that moment was finding out what Sif was going to do next. So engrossed was she that she didn’t notice him until his shadow loomed over her, blocking the light. 

Annoyed, she looked up and gasped quietly at the sight in front of her. He wasn’t the most imposing Alpha that she had ever come across, but he was the prettiest. A sharply cut face, clear golden eyes, the most sinful lips and all of it framed by masses of carefully styled dark hair. He was tall and slender and Lia again felt a pang of regret that she was again confined to her wheelchair. She would have loved to stand beside him and wrap her arms-

For his part, those golden eyes crinkled up as he looked down at the comic on her lap. 

“Sif’s story yeah?” He asked, his voice low and rich, reminding Lia of dark chocolate. Dark chocolate that she would have happily swallowed down in a heartbeat. 

She was still too stunned to give a proper reply and simply nodded, her eyes still focused on those perfect lips, his Northern accent sounding like a sultry come on to her ears. He was gorgeous and he was talking  _ to her. _ Most Alphas took one look at her wheelchair and quickly moved on to the most suitable Omegas they could find in the room. But not this Alpha. He was, in fact, grabbing a chair so that he could talk to her.

“I loved that arc! It was really well done. I didn’t think I’d love Journey after Loki’s arc was done. So what else do you read?”

Lia swallowed hard and smiled crookedly at him, not noticing in her nervousness how his eyes widened and turned a lighter gold as he waited for her to reply. 

“Captain Marvel and Thor, mostly. And you…?”

The Alpha sat back and smiled widely, making Lia’s heart beat faster and her scent of cedar rose up to fill the air between them.

“Zayn. Zayn Malik. I mostly read the Avengers. But I like DC more.”

Lia barked a laugh. “What redeeming qualities does DC have?”

Zayn’s eyebrow rose. “Is that a challenge?”

Lia’s mouth quirked up at the question. “No. Just an honest question. But if you’re taking it as such then you must not have that much faith in them.”

Zayn laughed, his eyes dancing at her comment and the soft scent of sandalwood rising from him. 

“Oh, you’re so on!”


	2. I'm Thirty Six Degrees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn and Niall head to the Facility to pick out Omegas and Zayn gets a taste of what his future with Lia will entail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we get a bit more of Zayn's POV as well as hints of what life would be in the UK at this time. The inspiration has come from both The Handmaid's Tale and my own life experiences. Proofed, but if there are mistakes tehy will be fixed. Title is from Placebo's song of the same name.

Zayn’s palms were sweaty as he walked up to the imposing gates of the West Yorkshire facility. Even though it had been a primary school in a previous life and had kept some of the trappings of that past, such as the rusted playground equipment and flaking cement yard that he dimly recalled kids playing in when he himself used to go to school and before it all changed for-

He stopped that thought abruptly and cursed himself for doing so. It had all changed in the fifteen years since the government had changed. There were no penalties and no punishments for sedition. He would tell himself that, but he knew that wasn’t really true. 

They were all afraid and even if they did tell each other that they could be as free as they liked, the fear of what had happened kept them in line. Zayn was too young to really recall what it had been like when the changes had occurred, but he had a vague awareness of the world being  _ wrong _ and that had been confirmed by the furtive whispering between his parents and the other adults in the family. The almost frantic push to make them follow rules that none of them really understood until it was all automatic and on reflex. He remembered their parents discussing passports and vague mutterings about going to Sweden, but nothing had materialized after things seemed to calm down some. 

Yet the old habits had remained and Zayn still found himself adhering to the rules that his parents had insisted on following. He had shed some of those behaviours once he had entered the usually decadent and bohemian fringe of the art scene in West Yorkshire, but some of them had been so ingrained that he knew he wouldn’t ever get rid of them. 

Annoyed at himself for having his thoughts go so far off left field, he forced himself to head over to the information booth and get instructions, since the letter was as vague as all out and really didn’t give any pointers on the wheres and whens of meeting and picking an Omega. 

As he walked up the booth, he accidentally bumped into a dyed blonde Alpha who was just a bit shorter than him. He too, looked a bit lost and unsure, since he kept biting his bottom lip and his dark blue eyes were wide and held a hint of fear as he took in the dark wood panels, somber paint and cameras mounted high in the corners. Zayn wasn’t one to talk first, but the blonde’s demeanor brought forth a long forgotten warmth towards a stranger and that had him approaching him. 

“They’re not really clear instructions, are they?” Zayn asked, making the blonde startle a bit at the unexpected question before flashing him a rueful smile revealing straight white teeth. 

“You’d think that they would be clearer when they force you to come down here.” 

Blondie replied, Irish accent softly blurred into Yorkshire with each word he spoke. 

“Well, maybe they can tell us here. I’m Zayn, by the way. Zayn Malik.”

Zayn introduced himself holding out the hand that didn’t have the pile of paperwork in it. 

“Niall Horan. Moved here a few years back from Mullingar and I guess they just now got my match from the Republic.”

Although Niall’s voice was light and lilting with his home accent, Zayn could detect an undercurrent of pain and anger in his voice. It was gone as quickly as he had detected it and Zayn wondered if he had imagined it. There was no time to really dwell on it since a severely dressed older woman with her hair pulled back in an iron grey french braid that left her oval face pale and curiously vulnerable. She looked at both of them, quickly taking in their simple, yet tastefully tailored suits and nodded to herself. 

“Could I have your summons, please? They would be the letter with the time and date of your assignment on it.” She asked, her voice neutral as she held out her hand. Zayn was glad that she had clarified exactly what the summons were and rationalized that she probably had been doing this for a very long time and had the practice downpat. 

Niall and Zayn both started a bit at that, fumbling for a few seconds before they produced the forms and handed them over. She gave them a cursory glance and beckoned them forward. 

“I do apologize that your summons came at such short notice this year. We usually are better organized than this, but there have been an influx of Alphas into the mating lists this year and a press to clear them out. This way please.”

Niall and Zayn exchanged a look before they got a move on and followed her as she maneuvered her way through what felt like a maze of hallways and doors until they ended up in what had been an auditorium. It hadn’t been properly kept up, but it was serviceable enough for the purpose of finding and bonding an Omega. 

Omegas that were either milling about by a table set up with refreshments and some biscuits that Zayn was willing to bet were Tesco’s own. Most of them were dressed in plain blueish frocks for the females and blue shirts and grey trousers for the small number of males that were around. 

“Here we are, gentlemen. Take your time and choose wisely. Once you have made your choice, bring your Omega up to the Matron by the doors and the mating details will be confirmed. Good luck.”

She left right after imparting those instructions, leaving Niall and he blinking at the Omegas that were now raising their heads and looking at them. Some were eagerly hopeful and some were quite bold in coming forward and telegraphing their interest in the new Alphas. Zayn felt slightly intimidated by these and let his gaze sweep across the somewhat empty hall. The few males left were crowded by the far walls and they were pretty unremarkable except for one with bright red hair that was looking past him and at Niall. 

There wasn’t a challenge or hope in his gaze. Just a calm expectation that Niall would be his Alpha. An expectation that didn’t take that long to fulfill, since Niall turned his head at the right time and breathed in sharply when he saw the ginger Omega. 

“Excuse me. I think I have my mate.” Niall muttered before he took off in a sprint to talk to the Omega. They stayed in conversation for what seemed like two minutes tops before Niall showed the certificate to the Omega, who have a sharp nod of assent before he was being dragged off to the perplexed Matron. They exited the room, not before Niall gave him a thumbs up, leaving him there to make his selection. 

Zayn shook off his surprise, squared his shoulders and started moving around the room, feeling slightly guilty that he was appraising human beings like livestock while still appreciating the attributes of the Omegas he saw there. He didn’t want to play into the system anymore than he had to, but he also knew that he didn’t want to end up mated to someone incompatible. He would escape without penalty after siring one litter. The Omega wouldn’t be so lucky and he wasn’t as selfish as to simply make a decision and damn the consequences. 

Keeping that in mind, he moved along the room, no Omegas catching his eye despite them trying their best. Most of the ones that would have been considered acceptable Omegas were too damned young and reminded him of his younger sisters at home. Zayn steered clear of those and kept on making a circuit until he came across an Omega sitting in a wheelchair. 

Zayn blinked, not sure he was really seeing what he was seeing. But no, it wasn’t a figment of his imagination. There really was an Omega in a wheelchair and she wasn’t paying any attention to anything happening in the room, her attention focused on the graphic novel lying on her lap. She looked up briefly and Zayn felt his breath catch when he caught a glimpse of pale oval face, soft doe brown eyes, and a plump mouth. Her hair was pulled into a similar braid as the matron that had greeted them, but her hair was a dark, rich brown. She would have been a tall woman if she had been standing and the rest of her body followed richly curved lines. 

He should have walked away and looked for a more suitable Omega. He wasn’t a fool, he knew how difficult it was for the disabled in society, even though lip service was given to them and some advances had been made. He should pick a younger and able-bodied Omega to bear his litters.

Yet when he looked around the hall again, Zayn felt absolutely nothing towards all of the others except discomfort and a feeling of unexplained dread. None of the others were doing much but looking pretty. Most were sitting there, looking at the door expectantly for the Alphas to come and pick them. None really showed any personality or a spark of interest. 

None held his attention like the Omega in the wheelchair. None made him want to know more like her. 

Zayn was all too aware of what would await him at home if he brought her home. He knew of the hardships they would face. The extra care that she would need. Or worse, the possibility of damaged litters. 

_ “Yet aren’t the odds the same with healthy Omega? Besides, she must be healthy enough to breed if they haven’t shipped her off elsewhere. Besides, it’s not like you have the luxury of looking elsewhere.” _

The caustic reminder that he was on limited time and money was what made him get over his reticience and walk over to the Omega, who didn’t notice him until he was practically looming over her.  He was glad that he didn’t have to use the cliche action of clearing his throat to get her attention, since she looked up pretty quickly and her reaction was one of quiet surprise. 

Unlike Niall’s Omega, there was no expectation in her eyes. Only shock at seeing him there.  He didn’t know what to talk about exactly, and latched onto the graphic novel on her lap. By the way that her eyes lit up and how she had a rapid fire remark for everything he threw at her, he was irrevocably besotted. Even more when her cedar scent rose up and his sandalwood one rose in response.

They kept on talking, Lia (He thought it was pretty and suited her well) teasing him over his love for DC comics and it was then that he knew. She was his.

It only took twenty minutes to let her win the argument and get her to the Matron, who looked as if she had been struck when they made it to the front. 

“Is there a problem?” Zayn whispered, leaning down so that only Lia could hear him.

“They probably didn’t think I would get an assignment. She’s probably trying to not give herself a stroke or a heart attack.”

Lia’s arch reply made Zayn snort and quickly cover it up with a fake cough when he caught the annoyed look of one of the carers that had walked in to see how things were shaping up in the hall. She didn’t glance at him and instead quickly conferred with the matron in a series of heated whispers that had both of them muttering a curt “Wait right here” before rushing out.

Lia craned her neck and looked at him, her mouth twisted in a mocking smile that belied the seriousness of her eyes. 

“This is a bit of a preview of life with me. You can still back out if you want.”

It was said in a light, slightly mocking tone that Zayn knew was an obvious attempt at deflection and he had to wonder how many times this had happened to her in the past. 

“For what? As far as I’m concerned, I lucked out. It may take some effort, but as my mam says, nothing worth having comes easy.”

Her eyes turned a warm sherry brown and the scent got stronger, making him think of the cedar forests of the Pacific Northwest he had seen before travel had become prohibitively expensive for people like him.  He found his scent rising to meet hers and her eyes widened at it. Her shock was so complete that she let out a rusty sounding purr that made the matron gasp and Lia cough to cover it up. 

“Oh! We’re sorry to keep you waiting here. We just needed to make sure that we had the right paperwork for the grants and the keys to your new home.”

Zayn and Lia blinked at each other as they absorbed the information. Grants? Home?

Before they could ask, a government official in navy blue came, flanked by the head matron and another junior matron that was pulling a large suitcase behind her. 

“If you would be so kind to follow us, everything will be explained in my office.”

Zayn gave Lia a soft, yet nervous smile before he patted her shoulder.

“Let’s go.”


	3. Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lia and Zayn find out what is in store for them now that they are mated and they spend their first evening together, getting to know each other and more.

They followed the officials and Zayn couldn’t help but to take note of how easily Lia handled herself in the chair, carelessly dodging the corners that even surprised him and forced him to dodge gracelessly, making Lia grin impishly while she snickered softly. It did sting his pride a bit to be the butt of the joke, but he pushed the emotion away quickly. It was just a small thing and he knew that in her daily life, she probably didn’t get many chances to laugh. If his awkwardness at maneuvering the ridiculous lay out did it, then he’d happily act the fool to get that soft smile on her face. It was a sweet and Zayn found himself wanting to see it grace her face more often than not. 

This impulse helped him to not think about the uniformed official and the Matron being present. He didn’t know much about procedures and had been lucky he more or less kept himself under the radar as to not come clashing in with the government. Unlike the more vocal and disturbing elements of his circle, he wasn’t well versed in dealing with the authorities and even the slightest interactions with them made him nervous. But with Lia being his top priority, that was all gone and he focused on her and hopefully making her happy as they moved along.

He had meant it when he had told her he wasn’t going to turn around and walk away as they waited for the Matron and the officer. He was positive of it, even though his fingertips felt cold and his stomach was churning like the way it did when he was going to do something that scared him, but excited him in equal measures. Entering a bonding with Lia was the most serious thing he would ever do in his life and it was almost paralyzing and exhilarating in equal measures, but he meant it all.

Lia wasn’t all clear cut angles and beauty, but she was pretty in a wholesome way that Zayn really hadn’t come across in a very long time. He found himself liking it the more he thought about it. It made him feel a warmth in his chest the more he thought about Lia as they made it to the forbidding looking offices that he was pretty sure had been the Headmaster’s Office in its first life. 

Zayn also suspected that not much of the decor had changed since it had become an Omega Facility: The same dark, heavy furniture was in use as well as the grey painted filing cabinets and grey-blue paint on the walls. It was also highly polished up and spotless, which made Zayn shudder inwardly as he imagined having to see that office day in and day out. 

He cast a glance at Lia, who pursed her lips and shook her head ever so subtly at him. 

“I’ll explain later.” She murmured so quietly that he nearly missed it. He nodded and moved closer to her, brushing her shoulder with his hand to show her he understood. He knew that there would be quite a bit to talk about once they were settled into their home if they were going to make a successful match of it. Although he could easily dissolve the mating in a few years, it was the last thing he would ever do. Especially not to Lia. She had no other recourse if he did and he wouldn’t damn her to that.

His hackles rose slightly at the thought, making Lia stiffen under his hand once he realized that he was gripping her shoulder tightly, his hand still on her shoulder from the earlier gesture of reassurance. He loosened his grip on her and mouthed out an apology as the Matron and the officer invited him to sit down in a hard polished chair next to Lia.  She smiled back, but it was faint. She didn’t rub her shoulder though and only let her hands rest on her lap, her eyes focused straight ahead as the Matron and the official sat down, a red and white striped folder, followed by a green and red striped one that came right after. The last was a green folder that had Zayn’s name on a white label on the front. 

“Before things get started: Have you filled out the certificate yet?”

Zayn blinked before pulling out the certificate that Lia had completed once he had let her best him in the argument. It had been a rush job, but it had been done. The Matron scanned it and nodded, clearly satisfied with what she saw and passed it to the official, who scanned it more thoroughly before nodding and stamping it with a green inked stamp he pulled out of his briefcase and put it in the green and red striped folder. 

“You are officially bonded now. Official Martins had to approve due to Lia’s disability as per government regulations. Lia is in good health and can whelp normally. You don’t have to worry about her not producing litters.”

Zayn swallowed and felt his face heat up in sympathy for the embarrassment of hearing his mate being measured and weighed as a commodity. He knew that it was normal for that to be the case, but it didn’t make it any easier to sit there and listen to that. Lia, on the other hand, was looking down at her lap, her hands loosely clenched and her cheeks slightly pink as she listened to the words as well. He wanted to reach other and comfort her, but judging by the stiff set of her shoulders, he figured it wasn’t the time to do so. 

She would see it as pity and Zayn, from what little he had picked up from her, guessed that was the last thing she would want from him.  So he kept still and waited for what else they had to tell them before they let them go and start their lives together.

The Matron paused and pressed her lips together a couple of times before continuing, as if she was gathering her thoughts for what she needed to say next. 

“The goal of the government is to raise the population. The more suitable Omegas are paired up, the better for the United Kingdom. That is why you will be given a home to breed your first litter and subsidies for utilities, food, and school fees. In Lia’s case, there would be extra grants applied for her needs as well as a house to accommodate her. You will have these for her entire lifetime.”

Zayn and Lia nodded and the Matron pushed the green and red striped folder towards them before handing the red one over to Zayn. 

“She is your Omega now, so a copy of her file shall be yours. Lia, this is Zayn’s file. I recommend you both read each other’s files as soon as you can. It would be helpful while you are getting to know each other better.”

Lia nodded as she reached for the file and put it on her lap. Zayn did the same as they waited for more information. 

“The house is ready for you to move in. If you want, you can go right now. Your belongings have been moved there. Zayn, you have twenty-four hours transition if you want to take it. If you do, that means Lia will stay here during that time.”

Zayn didn’t have to think twice before turning down the offer. 

“I’d rather we got settled in sooner, rather than later, if that’s all right with you, Lia?”

Lia’s eyes widened at being deferred to, but she nodded slowly as if she was in a dream and the words weren’t  _ quite  _ sinking in just yet. 

The Matron’s expression didn’t change at the answer, or so it seemed. But Zayn could see a glimmer of relief in her grey eyes at his reply.

“Very well then. We have a car ready to escort you. Lia, we will miss you. Take care.”

It wasn’t an effusive good bye, but Lia still looked like she was blinking back tears. It made Zayn hurt to see how little affection could bring such a strong reaction from her and it was then that he vowed he would shower her with as much affection as she could stand. He promised himself that no matter what, he would do so. Lia deserved it and so much more and he would do his best to give it to her.

Lia nodded, biting her lip slightly at the Matron’s words. “Thank you.”

Zayn stood back, giving Lia room to back up and turn it around. When she was just outside the door, he moved to follow her, but was stopped by the Matron calling his name quietly. The official had gone right after Lia had exited, through another door Zayn hadn’t seen, leaving only him and the Matron and he suspected that she wouldn’t have said anything if he and Lia had stayed in the room. 

He turned his head to look at her, wondering, yet having a good guess as to what she was going to talk to him about. 

“Please, give her a chance.”

Zayn looked down and his cheeks burned at the stoic plea. He knew what she was asking of him. 

“I’ll give her more than. I’ll give her a life. I promise.”

~*~*~*~*~*

Lia wheeled herself through the house that smelled like new paint and new wood, taking it all in. It was painted a pale blue and there were hardwood floors so that her wheelchair could move smoothly over them. No carpets and the doorways were wide enough to allow her to go through easily. The cabinets were a tad high, but she could manage the appliances and the sink. 

They had done as they had said they would and Lia couldn’t complain about it, since she hadn’t expected to get anything at all, much less a house that was well suited to her needs. 

She had checked the loo and had found it the same. Bars and adaptive appliances for when she needed to shower. 

Once she had done her inspection of the other two rooms in the house (They explained that since it was a one story house instead of the usual two story housing, they would sacrifice the upstairs three rooms for two large ones on one story. Lia had been worried that Zayn would have been annoyed, but he had simply shrugged if off, making Lia relax) she came to the living room and looked around the boxes that were accumulated there. 

She could hear Zayn puttering around in the kitchen and her cheeks heated up in embarrassment at being a bad domestic Omega already. She chided herself for not heading straight into the kitchen and getting their tea ready once they had arrived to the house. Even though Zayn seemed like an easy going Alpha, this was an inexcusable oversight on her part and she hoped that it wouldn’t count against her. She knew that Zayn was expected to keep a running tally of her skills in order for her six month evaluation and she cursed herself for already fucking it up and not even half a day into their mating. 

She wheeled herself into the kitchen as quickly as she could and nearly groaned when she saw Zayn already had the tea ready and was now busy making sandwiches from the supplies that the local council had stocked the house with. She bit her lip and moved to the sink to wash her hands before moving towards the counter. 

“I am so sorry! I’ll finish the tea now if you want to sit down. I should have done this as soon as we got in! I am so sorry, it won’t happen again!” 

Lia apologised as she took a couple of pieces of bread and put them on the extra cutting board. She was just about to reach for the knife when Zayn’s hand closed over hers, making her look up to him in surprise. 

“Lia, calm down, luv. I can make tea once in awhile. You don’t have to worry. I’m not one of those Alphas that expects meals to be ready as soon as I come in. You needed to check out the house, so I thought I’d get a head start on tea. If you want to help, could you make the tea?”

Zayn explained, his eyes clear and honest, making Lia’s fears of inadequacy as an Omega dissipate as she did what he suggested. Without wasting anymore breath or time, she  brought the kettle, mugs and milk over to the table with the help of a tray she had found in one of the cupboards. Having set it all up, she grabbed plates and cutlery, setting up the table just in time for Zayn to come back with the sandwiches and cucumber salad he had quickly put together. 

“It’s not quite fancy and not what I was expecting to have as a first meal here, but I hope you enjoy it, Lia.”

Zayn said as he put a couple of sandwiches on her plate before grabbing his own mug of tea.

Lia pinked at that and smiled at Zayn, making his eyes widen slightly before he ducked his head and took a long drink of his tea. He was besotted, he knew that now as he watched her through his eyelashes. Even if she hadn’t been in the chair, he would have fallen for her. 

“Thank you. You didn’t-”

Zayn cut her off by taking her hand and causing her to look at him with wide eyes and scarlet cheeks, her lip trapped between her teeth. Zayn was a bit lightheaded at the sight and also pleased with himself that he had gotten that reaction from her. He knew that he wasn’t a bad looking Alpha by any stretch of the imagination, and had had many react to him. But they didn’t matter. Only the fact that Lia was looking at him like he was a treasure mattered. Her scent had risen and he was getting light-headed. Maybe it was a pre-heat?

“I know. But I wanted to do this for my Omega. I wanted for them to know that they are my priority and I’ll take care of them no matter what.”

Lia looked down at her lap then and Zayn waited, wondering if she was going to bring to attention the fact that she was defective because of her disability. He hoped that she didn’t, since if he was honest, now that they had mated and were here, in their home, that had become a moot point. It was a part of her, but it wasn’t all that she was. 

“I...I had given up hope of ever hearing someone say that to me.”

Zayn flinched. He had only glanced at her file briefly on the way to the house and had seen that she had been in the facility for too long. He could only imagine how that must have felt: To sit in those rooms, year in and year out knowing that she wouldn’t ever leave unless someone looked past the wheelchair or took pity on her. 

“I know it must have been hard. I won’t deny I can’t even  _ begin _ to imagine how hard it must have been for you. That’s why I will say that to you as many times and as long as you need to hear it. Even though I know you may not believe me, I’ll say them until you do. I promise.”

Zayn told her, his eyes gold with emotion as he sat closer to her and brushed her cheek with his knuckle, having decided that was a compromise between holding her hand and kissing her, just in case the latter was too forward.

Lia on the other hand, thought that wasn’t quite enough. She wanted this Alpha. She wanted him fully and completely and she didn’t want to wait another minute. She had waited too long for this. She wasn’t willing to wait any longer. Not when he was looking at her like that.

She looked at him then, her eyes wholly black as she did for a split second before she took the initiative and kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all that have been reading and following this story. I had a bit of upheaval in my life lately that will be resolved today, so I can get back to my normal writing routine and hopefully get more of this story out faster. 
> 
> I am not a nurse/doctor, but I have done research on the condition that Lia has. If I got it wrong, then I do apologise as mistakes will creep up. The UK in this story is a cross between a totalitarian state and dystopian. More will be revealed as the story progresses. 
> 
> Mistakes will be fixed and thanks for your patience and continued reading of this.


	4. Cause I Know the Sound of Your Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis and Harry welcome new members to their family, something that starts Louis making plans for the future. Lia and Zayn get intimate and Zayn learns more about what that entails. Niall mates Ed and thinks about where he wants his familyu to build a life.

Louis stood nervously on the little strip that they called a backyard and shakily brought a cigarette to his lips and sucked it down fast. They hadn’t let him be in the same room as Harry as he moaned and cried his way through the difficult labour he was having. Only Harry’s mum was allowed to be in the room along with the state sanctioned midwife plus her apprentice, and Louis could only just control himself from going in. Every heart wrenching scream and sob tore at him and more often than once, he had to make a concerted effort to pull his claws back in. 

Although they had known that it was going to be a hard labour, since Harry was young and not quite finished developing, Louis didn’t expect for it to be as hard as it currently was. Louis hoped that as hard it was, that Harry and the litter would be okay. He didn’t give a fuck if Harry didn’t have another litter. Just as long as he and the kits were fine. Louis wasn’t a greedy Alpha. Nor was he cruel enough to contemplate sending Harry back if he proved unable to bear another litter. 

No. There was no way that he’d even contemplate it. Harry was, apart from Zayn, Niall, and his family, one of his closest companions. He wasn’t quite  _ in love _ with Harry. Not like the way he was supposed to be, but he had a deep bond with his younger Omega that Louis damned well treasured highly. Despite his shortcomings, Louis was well aware that what he had was very rare. Compatibility between assigned pairs was very low and he was going to be damned if he would throw Harry to the wolves. He’d rather-

“Louis? You can come in to see them now.”

Louis’s head jerked up and he dropped the mostly ashed cigarette onto the cement before he went inside and faced the apprentice that had been sent to fetch him. Louis took in her dishevelled appearance and wondered if he was right to have considered the worst case scenario with Harry’s labour. She wet her lips and smoothed back a stubborn hank of hair that clung damply to her cheek before she spoke. 

“It was a hard labour, I won’t deny that. He did well and the litter also survived. It’s not a big litter. Only three. But they are healthy enough and it should keep the government happy, since you fulfilled your obligation within the year.”

Louis let out a sigh of relief at the bluntness of the words. He was glad that she didn’t bother to soften the news. It was far better than he had been expecting to hear and he was glad of it. He was also glad that to hear that they were going to have a bit of freedom now that the litter had arrived safe and sound. They could very well have demanded another litter as soon as soon as Harry’s next heat arrived if one of the kits had died, since it would have been termed a small litter due to his onw familial litter being so large.  He nodded and moved to go to the bedroom, but the apprentice stopped him.

“After this, you have a couple of years leeway before you try for another litter. He needs time to heal and give his back a break. If you try for another litter too soon, it could kill him.”

That bluntly delivered fact was enough to cut through his relief and made him feel as if the bottom of his stomach had dropped out.  He swallowed hard and let the advice sink in. It didn’t take too long, since he had been thinking the same thing, but to have it verified was another thing altogether. 

The assistant waited until Louis had gotten himself together before she told him he could go in to look at his mate and litter. Louis murmured a thanks before he rushed into their room.  Harry’s mum was gone and the room looked the same as always, but filled with Harry’s sage and milk scent. There was no scent of blood in the air and Louis was secretly relieved at that. He didn’t think he’d be able to keep calm if he scented Harry’s blood in the air. 

Although he was needing to make sure that his mate was well, he paused in the doorway and took in the sight of his new family. Harry was propped up by pillows, his short hair a mess and clinging to his forehead in sweaty clumps holding three swaddled bundles in his arms. He wasn’t wearing a shirt to allow more contact with his litter and his eyes were bright with joy despite the smudges underneath. His face was slightly greasy and flushed, but to Louis, he was as beautiful as the first time he had laid eyes on him.

Seeing him like that with their kits, despite imagining it a thousand times since they knew that Harry was breeding made the last piece of the puzzle click in his head and in his heart. They were his to cherish, love, and protect. He was their Alpha and they were his family. They were his.

The strength of the realization nearly took his breath away and he must have made some kind of noise because it made Harry look up from his kits and directly at Louis. His eyes were green and so bright and so full of love that it made Louis’ knees weak. Harry loved him. He knew that clearly now and he hoped that Harry knew that Louis loved him as fiercely and as brightly as the heat of a million blazing suns. 

“Do you...Do you want to meet them?”

Harry’s voice was thick and slightly hoarse from the earlier screaming, but it still sounded amazing to Louis, who wasted no time in going over to meet his kits.

He settled in carefully, not wanting to jostle Harry anymore than he had to and rested his chin on Harry’s shoulder as he peered down at his new litter. 

They were small and red faced, but he could pick out some of Harry’s and his features in their faces already. Features like Harry’s mouth, his nose and Harry’s eyes in the one in the middle, who was awake and looking at them with hazy green eyes. They looked like his younger siblings had when they had been born and Louis let out a sigh of relief at that. They were perfect. 

“Thank you for them. Thank you so much, Harry.”

Louis whispered, kissing Harry’s shoulder and smiling when he felt the slight vibrations of Harry’s purr start up. 

Louis knew then that he would do anything to keep them safe. Anything. 

Even if it meant going back on the promise he had made his mum and stepdad when he had mated. 

~*~*~*~*~*

To say that both of them were shocked by her action would have been an understatement. Even Lia was shocked at her boldness, but she didn’t pull back when Zayn’s lips parted open for her and the kiss deepened, giving both of them the opportunity to taste each other thoroughly before Zayn broke it off. 

“Do you want to continue this somewhere more comfortable?”

He whispered, his eyes wide and blown gold, swallowing up the black pupil completely. 

“If you’re sure.” 

Lia countered, some of her earlier boldness leaving her at the breathlessness of her first kiss in years. She hadn’t been kissed like that since the accident and she found herself wanting more of it. Zayn was intoxicating and she wanted to be engulfed in him. She wanted for him to wrap his arms around her and lose himself into her. 

Zayn nodded. “I want to...If...I mean…” He trailed off and waved awkwardly at her lower body, making Lia blush, but laugh at the same time.  She had been expecting that question from him and was glad that it had come sooner, rather than later on when they were already in bed and raring to go.

If it had happened when she was younger and overly sensitive about her physical limitations, she would have been offended. But it had been years and she was prepared for when the chance would come again. 

“I can have sex. I can orgasm. I’m an incomplete paraplegic. Even though I can’t walk, I still have some function there.”

Lia replied in a matter of fact tone, making Zayn blush at the necessity for having to ask it. 

He felt uncomfortable having to ask that, since it was something that he had never come across in his earlier romantic entanglements. He felt like an asshole for drawing such a glaring spotlight on Lia’s disability. He may not have been one of the most sensitive blokes around, but he didn’t set out to be outright cruel to anyone in his life. Asking her this felt like unnecessary cruelty somehow. 

Lia saw the play of emotions across his face and spoke up, not wanting for the situation to be irrevocably ruined and for them to not be able to mate that night. 

“Hey...It’s something that had to be asked and it’s better that we talked about it before we did anything. So uhm...Do you still-?”

Zayn nodded, his face still flushed. Lia smiled and Zayn’s face lost the flush and his eyes got that dark gold again that made Lia’s breath hitch for a bit at how pretty and feral he looked. How his gaze was heavy with want and how it was all for her. 

“Come on then. Let’s get a head start on the baby making.”

Zayn’s blush came back as he laughed, but at least the earlier uncomfortable tension was gone and Lia then led the way to the bedroom. Although it was a bit corny, it worked to get Zayn to follow her and be more at ease with her and the idea of them mating. Even though both were fully aware that it was more than just a joke and partially true. 

They both had read the dossier in the red and green striped folder and the requirements that they needed to fulfill: A healthy litter within a year and five kits within five years of a bond being consummated. They both had blanched a bit at the high number of kits expected from them, but once they had skimmed the rest of the document. If she had been a healthy kit, they would have demanded eight due to them coming from large families. But they had taken possible complications into consideration when assigning their quota, so they only had to produce two small litters and they would have fulfilled their duty to the state. 

They had agreed, after reading the number that they would start sooner, rather than later. They just hadn’t said exactly  _ when _ sooner was going to happen, but after the afternoon not going how Lia had planned it, that it would be better for them to do it this evening. She wanted that last step to be taken care of, since despite being in her own home, with her own mate, it felt surreal to her still. 

Lia turned on the light and entered the master bedroom she had only glimpsed at earlier. It was pretty and done in shades of blue and soft dove grey and the only room fully done up. She admired the tasteful decorations before she parked her wheelchair and transferred over to the bed with the help of the bars bolted above the headboard.

“Not very subtle, are they?” Zayn commented as he followed suit and sat down on the other side of the bed and waited for Lia to arrange herself comfortably on the bed. Once Lia was in a half sitting position with pillows behind her back did he turn to her again.  He had been tempted to carry her to the bed in a romantic gesture, but the sheet that he found in the red and white striped folder made him think better of it. He knew it had been a late addition by the matron, those tips and pointers about living with a disabled person, but he was grateful for them, since he didn’t want to make more faux pas when he was so close to mating Lia.  As he looked at her pale and expectant face, he made a mental note to research as much as he could as to not make the same mistake again. 

He took in her oval face and her pink lips before he moved in and kissed her. Slow and soft and taking his time to taste her again. He cupped her jaw and stroked her cheek with his thumb, eliciting a quiet moan from her as he did so. He deepened the kiss and moved closer, enjoying the press of her breasts against his chest. His hand went from her jaw down to her shoulder before going to the zip of the back of the facility issued dress. 

She moaned again and she pressed against him, her arms wrapping themselves around his shoulders in a tight embrace so that she was supporting herself against him. Zayn took this as encouragement and undid the zip, wincing a bit when he heard the zip stutter and get jammed. He tugged on it impatiently and pulled back with a groan when he heard it rip and the dress fall open. 

“Oh fuck it.” Lia muttered, making Zayn huff a laugh against her lips. 

“So how do we do this?”

“Hold onto my waist. I’ll take care of the rest.” 

Zayn did as he was instructed and Lia made quick work of stripping herself of the top half of the dress and her bra. Zayn was momentarily distracted by both her breasts, which were bigger than he had anticipated, and by the muscle definition in her arms and torso. She was strong and curiously vulnerable, he realized when he noticed the faint scars on her body. His fingers brushed against a cluster of them by accident as she moved and they both froze when Lia shivered.

They stayed like that for a few moments before she cleared her throat. 

“Could you...Uhm...help me lie down and the rest? I also need for you to move my legs for a better position.”

The words were low and quietly spoken, but Zayn heard them and jumped with alacrity to do just that. 

“Sure.”

He did as he was told, careful to not brush against any scars anymore than he had to as he pulled down the ruined dress and the plain knickers. He arranged her legs as he was instructed, taking note of Lia’s discomfort and how she kept her gaze trained on him.  He knew, from the moment that her wasted legs were revealed that she was checking for signs of disgust or pity. Zayn didn’t feel any of that. He knew she wasn’t going to have legs like a runner. Not when she had been in a wheelchair for more than half her life. He wasn’t a shallow boy to recoil away from the reality of being with Lia. He was a grown Alpha and he really wanted to have a good time with his Omega. That was all. 

Once he was done, he slid in between her legs and kissed her lower belly, trailing kissed up her waist, chest, and neck until he was kissing her lips again. 

“Don’t you think you’re a bit overdressed?”

She whispered as her hands quickly made short work of his henley shirt. He shucked off his jeans and boxer briefs, leaving him shivering with the coolness of the room and the anticipation of burying himself in her. He kissed her mouth and moved down her body, retracing his steps until he was at her entrance. 

He didn’t ask permission to dive in and lick her, leaving a wet stripe as he pressed his tongue against her, the flat of it pressing down against her clit and making her groan a bit.

“Harder. Harder.” 

He moved her legs just a bit to ease access to her and did what she asked of him, pressing it over and over again, getting the taste of her while the soft sounds she made filled his ears. They were quiet groans of pleasure at first, until he pressed his tongue on her clit. His hands were on her hips and he accidentally brushed her back and she cried out hoarsely. 

“Do it again.” 

He complied, stroking the area while he ate her out, making her cries rise up in a crescendo until they culminated into a shout that had her upper body shaking and her hands clenching the sheets tightly. 

Zayn only had time to raise his head to ask her if she was okay before she looked him in the eye.

“Fuck me and fuck me hard.”

He didn’t need to be told twice.

~*~*~*~*

Niall lit a cigarette in the predawn light and sucked down a deep drag, even though he was still wheezing after the last round with Ed.  He exhaled blue smoke and he was thinking about maybe taking Ed to meet his mam when a sleepy voice interrupted his thoughts.

“You going to share?”

“Nope. Don’t want to risk the health of my kits.”  

Niall replied, taking another drag and snickering to himself when he heard Ed’s squawk of protest. 

“Ah come on! You can’t know that for sure!”

Niall shrugged. He would know. In a week, Ed’s scent of vanilla cookies would change to a milky sweet one. He recalled his brother telling him of the change in his Omega’s scent that had announced the upcoming litter and hoped that would be the case with Ed. Once they got their quota met, he would get them back to Mullingar. He didn’t trust that they would have a future in England.

Scotland and Northern Ireland weren’t as crap and they could probably settle there before heading back as to not rouse suspicion. Maybe they could even live their lives there. But not England. Niall didn’t know why, but he felt a sense of foreboding about staying. 

So he had to start making plans now, before Ed nested and it would be too late. 

He felt a small tugging at his fingers and was yanked out of his thoughts when he saw Ed was trying to pull the ciggie away from his fingers. He yanked his hand back and frowned when he saw that it was mostly ash.

“You nearly burnt your fingers there. I was just trying to put it out.”

Ed looked innocent, but there was a gleam in his eyes that told Niall it wasn’t all just altruism that had motivated Ed’s actions. He was actually amused, so he just put it out in the ashtray beside the bed and turned to pull his Omega into his side. Ed purred at the gesture and rested his head on Niall’s shoulder. 

“Get some sleep. Day’s going to come soon enough.”

Niall told Ed, who only curled up even more against Niall and purred even louder before his breathing evened out.

Niall listened to him sleep for a bit as his mind raced. 

Once he was sure that Ed was breeding, he’d start making arrangements. 

There was no fucking way he’d let his kits be part of a fucked up system. 

Not if he could help it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Louis and Harry-They were matched up earlier and since Louis comes from a big family, he's expected to produce an equal amount of children or more. Harry's still younger than Louis and this would be a worrying concern if he's to keep having kits.   
> Lia and Zayn-I researched exactly how sex would be for them and decided on Lia being an incomplete paraplegic, since some have sensation in their lower bodies and can orgasm. I tried to be respectful in the portrayal, but I know I probably got some stuff wrong. I do apologize, it's not my field and I did my best with research, so if there are inaccuracies, I do apologize for them.   
> Niall and Ed-There's a story as to why Niall had to leave Ireland and he still wants to go back there. He's got his own reasons why he's looking outward.
> 
> Title is from 1975's "The Sound", proofed, but if mistakes appear they will be fixed.


	5. My Defence Drawn On My Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn and Niall are settling into mated life and working on fulfilling the quota hanging over their heads. Lia reconnects with an old friend and finds out unsettling information regarding the Omega Facilities.
> 
> Meanwhile, Louis and Niall talk about the future, prompting Niall to reveal his plans and make a propostion.

“How’s mated life treating you?”

Zayn looked up from the draft he was working on for the Council and smiled lopsidedly at Louis, who was in the accounting side of the Council.

Although he missed his office at his parent’s house, he knew he couldn’t keep on working there. Not only did his parents need the space, he was a mated Alpha now and it just wasn’t done. So he reluctantly moved his work to the office that had been suddenly allotted for him. Although he had to adjust to the new working environment, it wasn’t as bad as he had anticipated. It also gave him and Lia time apart, which made seeing her in the evening an even better treat.

He hadn’t thought that he was going to be ever be so besotted by his mate. He hadn’t ever really felt a strong attachment to any other plausible mates that he might have had, but with Lia, it was different. Very much so.

He loved her dark brown eyes and the sweetness of her smile. How much she worked to take care of him and the home that they had. He loved coming home and seeing her lying on the couch, her head propped up by her hand while she read one of his many graphic novels. He loved how she would always look surprised by his arrival and how her face would light up when he would approach her and pick her up, kissing her deeply and surprising himself by how intoxicated he was by her crisp scent of cedar and how much like _home_  it was to him now.

He had known home before when he had been a kit. Before the outside world had pressed down on the life that his parents had fabricated for them as outside became chaotic. But as he got older, he knew that he needed to find his own home and was now pleasantly surprised to see that he had it with Lia. He wasn’t quite sure if he was already in love with her, but he was sure that he felt deeply for her and knew he would do the same as his father had done for his mother and his siblings.

She was his home and his world and he wouldn’t change it for anything.

Louis’ laugh broke his thoughts and he clapped Zayn’s shoulder as he sat down on the empty chair beside Zayn.

“I don’t even have to guess with that sappy look you got on your face there, Zee. She must be something else to make you space out like that.”

Zayn thought he’d be flushing about being caught out, but he found himself shrugging instead. Why deny it when it was true? Also, it wasn’t like he was ashamed of the depths of his feelings for Lia. He loved her. Even if he still couldn’t say the words out loud, he knew that it was all too true.

“Lia’s everything I ever wanted, Lou. I never thought I’d be so happy with my Omega.”

Louis’ face was soft and thoughtful at Zayn’s words.

“That’s good. Makes it all easier to take when you like each other.”

Zayn frowned at Louis’ words and the sudden darkness he saw flashing in Louis’ blue eyes.

“Louis...I don’t mean to pry, but are you and Harry…?”

Louis face lit up at the question, the fleeting shadows in his eyes disappearing as quickly as it had come.

“Oh! You were out when it happened. Harry’s had our first litter! Two Alphas and an Omega. One Alpha girl and the rest boys. Take a look.”

Louis pulled out his phone and pulled up his camera roll to show Zayn his Omega mate and kits snuggled into the nest that Harry had built before they had come. Louis looked like any other proud Alpha. Or should have, if it wasn’t for the slight tightness around his mouth or the shadows Zayn had seen present in his eyes every third or fourth picture. Zayn didn’t make any comments other than the usual ones, figuring that Louis would come clean once he felt like it. Although they were close, Zayn knew better than to poke at Louis when he wasn’t ready to share.

“So when will see your Omega?”

Before Zayn could reply, Louis snapped his fingers. “That reminds me. Niall and Ed are having a get together this Friday and I told them that I’d pass on the word. So are you in?”

Zayn nodded. “Yeah! We’ll be there. I only got to say hi to him. It would be nice to actually properly meet him and his Omega. What time?”

Louis flipped through his phone and made a satisfied noise when he found the information.

“At eight. So we’ll see you and your Omega there, yeah?”

Zayn nodded. “Of course.”

Louis nodded as he stood up. “Allright. I’d better get back to the spreadsheets. See you later, Zee.”

Zayn nodded. “Yeah, all right.”

Louis waved and sauntered off, leaving Zayn to focus on the layout again. Something that he managed quite well despite the nagging feeling that there was more happening to Louis than he was letting on. There was nothing else that he could do until Louis decided to share exactly what was going on instead of simply giving hints as to what it was.

Until then, he would focus on work and on Lia. Especially now that her heat would be coming up. They had no time to lose.

He was all too aware that his happiness was fleeting unless they were able to fulfill the exacting price that the government demanded of them.

~*~*~*~*~*

Lia had finished cleaning up after breakfast, humming an old song under her breath as she worked. She didn’t quite like the BBC1 or BBC2. The music tended to bring out a sense of quiet panic in her. It was meant to be happy and it put her in mind of bright and shiny plastic, but it always rang false somehow. They weren’t quite allowed to play the old stuff that her family had liked, but they could still get it on BBC3. The problem was that it wasn’t on this early in the morning, so she made do with her own voice and snippets of songs she recalled from back then.

Once she had placed the rag on the rack to dry, she wheeled herself out into the small area that was optimistically called the backyard. It had a strip of green and enough space for a litter to tumble about in. To Lia, it was perfect. After having been institutionalised for so long, she never took anything to do with being outside for granted. It had, apart from the bedroom (She refused to blush like some romance novel maiden at why this was the case), become her favourite spot in the house. She didn’t realize exactly how much she had missed sitting in the fresh air until she was able to sit outside and just enjoy it.

She leaned forward and sighed deeply. Bradford wasn’t exactly pretty or super clean, but it was clean enough and fresh enough to let her enjoy it. She was finally able to breathe without wondering if she was inhaling ancient chalk dust and quite possibly mildew and mold. The facility was old and she had heard that after the last batch of Omegas were gone, they would demolish it.

Lia didn’t hold much truth to those rumours until Ed and only a handful of other Omegas had shown up.

“We’re going to be relics of this sooner, rather than later.”

Ed had muttered to her once. They didn’t get many chances to talk, since she was mostly in her room or doing bookkeeping duties. All of them had duties that seldom if ever dove-tailed into each other’s spheres of work. So it had been quite a surprise to her when Ed had shown up to help her with the office work. It had also been a surprise when Ed told her that.

“How so?” She asked, keeping her eyes on her work as she muttered the question to him.

“These centres, they’re going to be demolished and the Omegas will be moved to London.”

Lia frowned as she finished a column of numbers, double-checked them and started on another page of the ledger.

“Why? Don’t they want the population to go up?”

Ed snorted. “For some. They want all of the Omegas to be reserved for the rich and elite. They’re hoping we’ll be bred out within a couple of generations in the lower classes.”

Lia frowned. “So why not start that with us?”

Ed laughed bitterly. “The elite don’t want run of the mill or damaged goods.”

Lia had raised her head from her work to look at him, but the conversation was done when the Matron came back into the office. She didn’t have a chance to talk to him about it again, since the Assignment day came and he was snapped up pretty fast.

She sighed and rubbed her fingers against her eyelids in an effort to drive the memory away. She knew that it was bad in the United Kingdom. Wales for sure. Maybe not so much in Scotland and Northern Ireland, from the bits she had gleaned from before. Maybe things had gotten better there, being across the water and all that. She would have liked to see it herself now that she was no longer having the threat of being left behind hanging over her head.

She was dimly and uncomfortably aware that there was no real bright future here. Bradford had survived the worst of the civil war and the brutal retaliation that followed. But it had suffered. Probably would continue to suffer and she and Zayn were stuck in the middle of it.

She stopped rubbing her eyes and opened them to look out at the lawn. They would be the building blocks for a horrific future and she wondered if it was worse to know or worse to want to find a way out.

She clenched her fists into her jean clad thighs in impotent frustration. If only she wasn’t stuck in that fucking wheelchair! If only she had fought harder after college and gone North if-

“Lia? Lia Payne? Shit! It is you!”

She looked up at the voice that sounded vaguely familiar and then grinned when she saw the bright red hair and the wide grin of the Omega who was looking over the backyard railing.

“Ed Sheeran? What the fuck?”

~*~*~*~

Niall tapped his fingers on the earthenware mug, waiting for his tea to cool as he waited for Louis to show up. They had agreed to meet up today after not seeing each other for such a long time. Between the litter coming into Louis’ life and Ed coming into Niall’s, there had been little time for them to just sit and hang out like they used to. He had missed the quiet meetings that they had and he was looking forward to this one. He had some ideas that he wanted to run by Lou and see if he was in agreement.

He was so lost in his plans and thoughts that he jumped when the doorbell rang, getting him out of his reverie. He put the near empty cup down and went to answer it, smiling when Louis appeared when he opened the door.

“Been awhile. Tea?”

Louis nodded as he entered and closed the door behind him.

“Ta very much that would be lovely. How ye been?”

Niall nodded and went into the kitchen, Louis following him and hopping up on one of the stools at the counter. He placed his elbows on the countertop and watched as Niall filled the kettle and got a mug and bag together before turning back to Louis.

“How are the kits?”

Louis smiled widely, his eyes nearly electric blue with pleasure at being asked.

“Grand. Harry’s also grand and we don’t have to worry about the government for a few years.”

Niall nodded as he crossed his arms.

“Ed’s going to have a heat next week, so hopefully we’re going to join you and Harry soon.”

Louis nodded.

“So how many kits are they asking of you two?”

Niall made a face. “Only four, since we’re not from big families, much to the surprise of the old dingbat in the office. Asked me if my mum had passed, since the Irish are known to have litters and litters.”

He shook his head after the sarcastic commentary and rubbed his face roughly.

“What the fuck am I supposed to say to that? Especially when I know that they just want us to breed for them and keep this twisted and corrupt system in place.”

Louis’ mouth thinned at the comment. He knew it. Zayn knew it. They all knew it, but no one really spoke of it. Not after having years of being trained to not speak of it. But now that Niall was voicing his frustrations like that, it made Louis break the old conditioning and reply.

“It’s not going to get better either. There have been rumours here and there about the Omegas being kept by the elite.”

Niall’s eyes narrowed at the news. He had suspected something as much and Ed had confirmed it. He opened his mouth to reply at the same time that the kettle began to whistle in readiness. He poured the water into the already prepped mug and placed it in front of Louis along with a spoon. Louis thanked him and he stirred in the teabag a bit more, both of them silent for a bit before Niall spoke up.

“I figured they would. There aren’t many Omega facilities left in the country. I know that the ones in the south have closed except for one near London. The Midlands are probably next and this one soon. They’re going to cut out the middle man and just take them.”

Niall’s lip curled up in distaste at the idea.

“I’m not going to stay here and see any of my kits taken away from Ed and I, Lou. I can’t.”

Louis felt his hands go cold at the revelation.

“As soon as I can get Ed’s passport, we’re going to Ireland.”

He paused and took a deep breath before blowing it out silently and looking straight into Louis’ eyes.

“I gotta ask now: Would all of you come with us?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do apologize for the delay in writing out this chapter. I've been basically dealing with more personal issues and my job is winding down for the year and then other stories decided to be written. Chapter has been finished though and proofed, but if mistakes appear, they will be fixed. 
> 
> Niall- Ireland is actually pretty damned sane at the moment, hence his reasoning for wanting to take off there and take Ed with him. Louis a good friend and he doesn't want the same thing to happen to his kits, hence the offer. Once they meet the others, they will exchange information and go from there.  
> Lia and Ed-I have somehow developed a soft spot for Ed and I needed a bridge person,so to speak, so here he is. They will be more of them interacting together in the future.


	6. Nowhere, Nowhere is Home Until We're Both In the Same Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Lia have a long delayed visit, Louis talks with Harry about their future and Zayn takes steps to insure that his family has permanent safety.

It hadn’t taken long for Lia to invite Ed inside and then impulsively ask him to stay for tea. She wasn’t sure if Zayn was going to come home in time for tea and she hadn’t seen Ed in a long while. Not since he had slipped that information to her in the facility. She missed the ginger Omega and having him come around unexpectedly was a quite welcome surprise.

“Come on, then. Sit. I’ll have everything sorted quickly so we can chat.”

Lia burbled as she made her way to the kitchen and started sorting out what she needed to make a proper tea.

Ed, meanwhile, sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and watched as Lia made the preparations for the tea. He watched as she put the slices of bread in the toaster and sliced up the cucumbers and tomatoes into thin slices for the sandwiches as she waited for the water to boil. She moved around the kitchen easily and Ed felt a small pang of envy at how at home she was in that estate house. More than she had ever been in the facility.

“Do you need help? Anything I can do?”

Ed asked, fidgeting a bit as Lia swept the vegetables into a bowl and shook her head.

“Believe it or not, I actually enjoy cooking for people. I’m all right. But if you insist, you can start setting the table. The dishes and the mugs are in the second cupboard.”

Ed shot out of his chair and did as Lia asked, setting everything up properly on the table and turning back to see Lia buttering up the toasted slices and putting more bread in.

“Cutlery is in the drawer over there. How many sandwiches do you want?”

Lia asked as she turned towards the fridge.

“Three, if that’s allright. I’m starving today.”

He was, but he wasn’t, if he was honest with himself. He could have easily gone home and made something to eat after he had talked a bit to Lia after he had seen her across the fence. But he didn’t want to go back to that empty, echoing house that felt even emptier when Niall was not home. It was only home when Niall was there. When it was just Ed, it felt almost as impersonal as a hotel.

So when Lia had asked him if he wanted to pop in for tea, he jumped at the chance with alacrity. Despite knowing Lia only briefly, her sweetness and kindness was enough to ease the loneliness he felt. Once he had stepped into Lia’s home and watched her get to work, the sense of homeyness was even stronger and he was glad that she had invited him to her home.

He had also missed her since the last time that they had talked. He was also worried about her, after the conversation that he had with Niall earlier. He wanted to run a nebulous idea by her and he had taken seeing her earlier as a sign that he should. Lia was vulnerable and even though he was sure that she was quite pleased with her alpha, if things went to hell, she needed to be somewhere else other than Great Britain. But he had to bide his time before he put the idea out to her and he figured that conversation over tea would be the best time to do so.

Lia shrugged. “It’s allright. I’ve got enough to feed you and Zayn.”

She paused as she turned her chair towards Ed and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Besides, I’m pretty sure it’s not just food that you’re here for, right?”

Ed’s eyes widened at her sharpness and he felt himself chewing his lip as he tried to come up with something to say.

Lia grinned at him as she raised her eyebrow before snickering.

“It’s okay, Ed. I don’t know how it is at your house, but it can get pretty lonely around here once Zayn, my alpha, is at work. Besides, it’s been awhile since we have seen each other.”

Ed nodded, feeling slightly relieved that she had dropped the matter for the time being. He knew though, that she hadn’t quite forgotten it and was simply waiting for her to bring it up again.  He wondered exactly how long that would be when she laid her hands on her lap and looked at him with those dark brown eyes.

“I just want to ask one thing before I finish tea and we sit down.”

Ed blinked and nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

Lia smiled thinly before speaking.

“Does it have to do with what you told me that day? Should Zayn and I be making plans?”

Ed nodded. Lia’s lips thinned at the confirmation.

“I suspected as much. But it can hold for now.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Louis took a drag of his cigarette while mulling over what Niall had revealed in the last conversation they had. He agreed with his Irish friend that they needed to leave before it got worse. He had Harry and the kits to look out for and Ireland, or maybe even Northern Ireland in a pinch could provide that. It would be hard, he knew. To leave all that he had known and all of his family behind.

But he could read the writing on the wall and he saw that was the best way out of the darkness that was coming. He, like the others, was too young to remember the war. He only knew the aftermath of what had arrived. But he had seen how badly it had affected his mother and her partner and the older kids in the neighbourhood he grew up in. He didn’t want to have his kits grow up like that. Or worse, be taken away once they presented.

He felt his expression hardened at that and he quickly took another drag from his cigarette, inhaling deeply before exhaling a large cloud of blue smoke.

He hadn’t given an answer to him yet, asking for a few days’ reprieve before he gave a yes or a no. He himself had decided, but he also wanted to run it past Harry and see what he thought. Privately, he thought that Harry would say yes. But he didn’t want to jump the gun and push his Omega into making the decision. He knew that he could, legally speaking. But he also knew that if they were going to take off, he needed for Harry to be in agreement.

It would be hard enough to go to a new country, or maybe even two new countries and if Harry got homesick…

No. He didn’t want to risk for Harry to pine away to nothing and leave their kits defenceless. He would talk to him as soon as he got home from his mum’s and go from there.

He finished off his cigarette, not thinking about the situation any longer when he heard the door open and close. Footsteps followed and he entered the house in time to see Harry putting down the carriers that contained their kits on the sofa before turning and seeing him.

“Lou! Christ! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Harry whispered, his eyes wide and anxious and his hand clutching his chest and making Louis feel slightly bad for startling Harry. Only slightly, since his mate looked so pretty with the flush on his cheekbones and his green eyes wide and bright.

“I’m sorry, Harry.”

Louis apologized sincerely, moving to wrap his arms around his omega and nuzzle him. Harry’s agitation disappeared and he bent his knees so that Louis could properly scent him, making Harry purr once he was again covered in Louis fresh mint scent. They stayed like that for a bit before Harry straightened up and extricated himself for him Alpha. Louis let him go and watched as Harry checked on each of the kits, who looked to be sleeping quite deeply.

“How was your day? Did they give you too much trouble?”

Louis asked, ambling next to Harry and looking down at the kits and being once again overwhelmed by love for those tiny creatures that lay snugly in their baskets. 

“ No. They were so good. Mum watched them while I did a few errands. She said that they were no trouble at all. She told me that we could drop them off whenever.”

Harry reported, his voice a low murmur as to not wake up the kits.

Louis winced slightly at that, knowing full well that would be something that they wouldn’t have in Ireland. He liked that they could have an on call babysitter from either side of their pack, thus making them all strongly bonded to each other because of it. They would lose the bond. They might even lose the packs. All of this he was quite aware of and was going to have to ask Harry to weigh before he gave an answer.

“That’s good. I’m glad.”

Harry caught the small hitch as he always did. Despite being older, he never could get anything past his Omega.

“What is it, Lou?”

He blew out a breath and motioned for Harry to sit down on the loveseat near the sofa so that they could be near just in case the kits woke up needing either one of them.

“I need to ask you something serious and I want you to think about it carefully before you answer.”

Louis stated, his voice low and his gaze focused solely on Harry’s babyish face, which fell into lines of worry as he waited for his Alpha to speak.

“I know that you’re young, but you’re not stupid. You know how bad it is getting here, with the state and their quotas and all that. I know how hard the birth of the litter was on you and I’m worried I’m going to not just lose my kits, but also that I’ll lose _you.”_

Louis swallowed hard as the memories of Harry’s pale and strained face and the scent of blood overwhelmed him. He took a deep breath to steady himself and continued.

“I’m not willing to gamble on your health or on the kits. I want a better life for us and I don’t think that we’ll find that here. So that’s why I’m asking you, Harry. If I can get us out, will you come?”

~*~*~*~*~

Lia had poured the tea and had added milk to it, barely letting it cool before sipping at it and trying to not blush as she remembered the last time she had tried to have tea. She wasn’t complaining by any stretch of the imagination. No. Far from it.

After being so touch starved, having Zayn’s hands all over her body was sheer heaven. She relished feeling those artist’s hands running down her back and tangling themselves in her hair when he made love to her. Or when they encircled her waist as he fucked her rough and hard through her heat, leaving her bruised and sated. How he rubbed her back and shoulders when she was too stiff to sit up or do much of anything except lie down. She craved all of it and looked forward to it, but having Ed sitting across from her was not the right time to savour the memories.

She took a short sip and savoured the taste of hot tea before setting the mug down and cradling it in her hands as she looked at Ed, who had just returned from putting the plates in the sink and rinsing them.

“Oh!” His eyes lit up at the mug of tea as he sat down and added a bit of milk and sugar and setting it aside to cool just a bit.

He rested his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers in front of his mouth as he prepared what he was going to say next.

“Are you and Zayn thinking of staying in England?”

Lia was visibly taken aback by the question and she jerked back in her chair as if she had been scalded and she chewed on her lips as she considered her answer carefully.

“He’s not said anything to me, if he was thinking of it. But then...We’ve only been mated for three weeks. It’s too soon to know his mind. Why? Has Niall said anything to you about it?”

She asked, her hands tightening around her mug of tea as she waited for the answer.

Ed sat back and laid his palms flat against the table.

“He doesn’t think it’s safe to be in England. He’s Irish and he misses his home and how it is there.”

Lia nodded and lifted her mug to her lips to take a longer drink now that the tea wasn’t scalding.

Of course Niall would want to leave. Ireland, despite it’s history, had advanced when Great Britain had stagnated. Northern Ireland had seen the writing on the wall and had demanded Commonwealth Status. Scotland was doing the same and England was left watching as it happened. The laws and controls were starting to change. She had seen that now that Zayn had been handed control of _her_ finances as well as a stack of paperwork he had glanced through and muttered darkly over before dropping it in a drawer and bending down to embrace her before going to work.

They all dimly recalled the wars and the rations and how it had seemed so much brighter before the perpetual gloom and facilities and cards were issued out. Ireland, Canada, and Australia were so much different. She knew, from the bits of news that she caught, like phantoms at the corner of her eye. She knew all of that, but even if she wanted to go…

“So you would leave, if Niall gets you a passport? What about the quota?”

Ed scowled.

“That is the reason why he wants to leave. Ireland doesn’t have state quotas or the danger that any Omega kits we have will be taken and sold off to the highest bidder.”

Lia inhaled sharply at that and her stomach clenched at the idea. Especially since her heat had just passed and she and Zayn were waiting to see if she was carrying or not. Despite it being still a theoretical possibility, Ed’s comments made the knowledge slam into her like a hammer. Her breath caught in her throat at the idea of one of her kits being locked up in what amounted to a prison and her hands shook.

She put down the cup less carefully than she had planned and had to fold her hands on the table to stop their shaking.

“You weren’t joking about them doing that in facility, where you?”

Ed shook his head.

“Niall’s not wanting to take any chances. He’s looking for ways out, which is what you and Zayn should do. Especially if there are kits on the line.”

~*~*~*~*~

Zayn walked down the street with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched against the sudden downpour. He cursed himself for not bringing a heavier jacket, but he also didn’t think that it would take so long to complete the business at his parent’s place.

The papers were stuffed in the lining of his jacket just in case he got stopped by the patrols that were starting to become more and more frequent in his parent’s neighbourhood. His little enclave was more or less left alone, with only the morning and night patrols. But he was sure that he had seen at least two since the time he arrived after work and now that it was getting dark and the lights were starting to come on.

He wanted to run back home, but forced himself to keep a steady, but brisk pace. The last thing he needed was to be stopped and delayed even further. He hoped that Lia wasn’t worried, since he hadn’t told her of his errand and it was past tea time and well into dinner time. Still, he didn’t hurry. Just moved ahead and forced himself to stay calm, not letting himself relax until he was at his front door and with his keys in his hand.

He unlocked the door and closed it, leaning against it and taking in deep breaths of air as waves of relief washed over him. He had gotten past them and now all he would have to do was meet with Niall and pass the completed paperwork over to him.

Once he was finally steady, he locked the door and kicked off his shoes as he walked to the kitchen to find Lia sitting at the table with a mug of tea in her hands.

Her face lit up when she saw him and she put the mug down to wheel herself towards him.

“You didn’t tell me you were going to be so late! Was it a project?”

She asked as Zayn bent down to embrace her tightly and breathe in her own scent mixed in with the fresh scent of her green tea perfume and the faint scent of sweet milk. He didn’t want to comment on it yet and get her hopes up. It was only three weeks since her heat. A heat that had forced them to not be able to meet Louis and Niall and something that they were working to make happen soon.

“Yeah. I got fairly distracted. I’m sorry. I should have called. I promise I will, next time.”

Zayn lied, feeling like an asshole for lying to his mate.

_“It’s for her safety. Their safety.”_

He chided himself as he held her tighter, kissing the top of her head before straightening up.

“That’s allright. Uhm, Are you hungry? I have some tea and sandwiches from when Ed came by earlier.”

Zayn blinked. “Ed? Ed Horan?”

Lia nodded, her expression faintly confused.

“Yeah. His Alpha’s Niall Horan. We met at the facility. He lives just a few houses down. Is that alright? I mean, I know it was-”

“No! No, don’t worry about it. It’s fine. Quite fine. I know that it’s not easy being here by yourself. I’m glad that you found each other again, actually.”

Zayn promised her, kneeling down and meeting her eyes so that she could see that he wasn’t lying to her.

Her face softened and she leaned forward to place a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

“I’m glad. I’ve missed being around other Omegas. Are you hungry though?”

Her mothering instincts kicked in and Zayn smiled. He had been too anxious to eat, but now that he was home with his Omega and receiving better news than he had expected, his stomach was making itself known.

“Yeah. I could eat. Thank you.”

Lia lit up and went to get the leftovers, leaving Zayn thanking his lucky stars on how things had aligned themselves.

He’d get his Lia and his kits out to safety, with a little luck and Niall’s connections.

He’d get them all a future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the lateness in getting this out. I had personal drama and work things to sort out (All of them satisfactorily, thank Odin) and a bad case of writer's block in regards to where it was going to go. Niall felt like the best person to get the moves going, so that is why he's a catalyst.  
> Louis and Harry-Louis is fiercely protective of his family and Harry and even though he will move heaven and earth to protect them, he won't do it without Harry's input.  
> Zayn and Lia-Next chapter will have more of Zayn's POV and what he has been doing behind the scenes and why he was slightly paranoid. Lia isn't stupid, but she's all too aware of her limitations and hedging her bets until Zayn lets her know what will happen.  
> Ed and Niall-They have all the aces up their sleeves at this point and will play them as the time goes.  
> Atmosphere-The closest analogue would be Northern Ireland during the 1980's, with patrols and soldiers everywhere as well as the stories and faint memories I have of Latin America as a child. No disrespect meant in either case.


	7. Hold Me, Hold Me Closer, Till We Break It Up Don't Leave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niall is starting to see the opportunities close as the government start sniffing around. Louis has come to a decision and will go through it. Zayn is waiting for the sword to fall and when it does and ends up hurting Lia, he puts his plan in motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was on holidays in Spain and Portugal (Lovely countries) and just now have gotten time to update. I had to re-plot where it was going, so hence the reason for the chapter being a bit frantic and dark. There will be some violence in this chapter, so just giving you a heads up. 
> 
> Proofed and edited, but if I missed something, I will fix it later on. 
> 
> Title is from Kaiser Chief's Parachute.

Niall looked around the wrecked safehouse grimly and swore when he saw the bloodstains on the floor. He had hoped that when they got the heads up that wasn’t going to be the case, but the bloodstains dispel those faint hopes quickly. He growled in annoyance before he turned to Jamie and Colin, two other Irish Alphas that Niall had been working with to get Omegas out to the Island.

“Was anything taken?”

Jamie shook his head. “They didn’t find the trapdoor with the good stuff.”

Niall nodded. “And the passports and visas?”

Jamie looked at Colin who answered. “In the secondary house. Don’t worry. It’s all been taken care off, but this has to be the last trip. Bradley can’t cover for us much longer and Iwan said that they’re starting to get a bit suspicious in the embassy.”

Niall winced at that, but he knew that they were right. If their activities were starting to get noticed, it was time to stop.

“Who got taken?”

“Matt, Perrie, and Nathan. Angel’s checking to see when they’re going to get released.”

They fell silent at that, none of them wanting to acknowledge the possibility of them not being released at all. They were hoping that they would follow the pattern of holding them in detention, roughing them up a bit, and then letting go. As Omegas, they wouldn’t dare to do anything else to them. But there were always exceptions to the rule and even though the Omegas all knew the risks, the Alphas couldn’t help but to feel responsible for anything that happened to them.

“Allright. Tell Angel to keep us posted and for Robert to be ready to get them out just in case. Don’t do anything to the house and stagger your exits when you leave the block. We can’t afford for anyone else to be compromised. Got it?”

~*~*~*~*~*

“So Belfast, yeah?”

Niall asked Louis as he helped Louis seal the last box of household goods to send to Northern Ireland.

“Yeah. I got a job there after the passports cleared, so I decided to head over rather than wait for something to open up in Ireland.”

Louis explained, closing the door and looking at Niall, who nodded in understanding.

“How long do you have until you go?”

Louis smiled slightly at that, since he was still in a bit of shock over having to uproot his entire life and family to a new place. Not to mention having to deal with a government that was quite begrudging when it came to handing out passports and travel visas to even a satellite region. He was glad though, that he and Harry had decided on Belfast in the end once it became clear that the Republic of Ireland would require even more acrobatics than even Niall’s connections could handle.

“Just a week and a half. I already have our tickets and passports in a safe place like you and Ed suggested we do.”

Niall nodded. “Good. I know it’s a bit over the top sometimes, but you can’t be too careful. Especially since it feels like the list of countries with travel visas is changing all the time.”

Louis nodded. It was true that the list was getting longer the more people started figuring out that the borders were tightening and more paperwork was needed to do anything. It wasn’t _quite_ like the wars, but it was starting to make people nervous. Liverpool, from what Louis had overheard, was becoming more of a ghost city than it already was.

It had been hit hard in the war and it had only recovered enough to be functional. People had tried, but it looked like it was more or less in vain. Liverpool was dying and the government was too blind to scale back the measures killing it. So people fled to wherever would have them.

“When will you go?”

Louis asked, clearing his thoughts over the depressing state of the nation.

“Soon. Once a few more loose ends get sorted, we’ll be going.”

Louis wanted to get more information out of Niall, but he had to get going. It had all been planned and despite his curiosity, he needed to go. He also knew that Niall was being evasive to protect not just himself, but whoever else he was helping. Louis knew how valuable silence and wilful ignorance was, so he simply nodded and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Alright. Take care, yeah?”

Niall smiled, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Always do, Louis. Always do.”

~*~*~*~*~

Zayn glanced at the clock and was glad that he had remembered to shut the alarm off as to not wake Lia up. He was glad he had the weekend off and was planning on spending it with Lia. Maybe even having Louis and Niall and their mates over. It had been awhile since all of them had gotten together in a relaxed setting and he found he was missing it. He wasn’t exactly the most open and social person and it was with only a few people that he felt utterly comfortable with.

He also wanted to talk about something else other than work and the lack of venues where art could be exhibited as well. He had noticed that the art world in Bradford was starting to get smaller as the year was drawing to a close, but with Lia and the advent of a litter, it hadn’t been a pressing matter.

He painted when he was at home and gave as much time as he could possibly spare to his art, but he didn’t go out of his way to display it as he had before. The wait for his and Lia’s passports to Northern Ireland was a constant thing on his mind as well as plotting the delicate work of logistics and travel that fleeing the country entailed.

Louis and Harry were pretty close to leaving with Niall’s and a few other’s help. NIall was pretty tight-lipped as to who else was helping out and both Zayn and Louis didn’t question it. Especially not when it felt like the government was making stringent remarks on travel to places such as France, Spain and even Denmark and instead had focused his sights onto Belfast. He had nearly everything sewn up and Zayn was pretty sure that Louis and Harry would be on their way in a matter of days.

After four months of careful planning, job searches and document wrangling, they were on their way to Belfast. In just five days, they would be flying there and Zayn and Lia couldn’t be happier for them.  They would have someone in the city and once Niall left, it would be a short trip to visit him and Ed. He was glad that things were working out like planned, even if it was taking longer than they were expecting.

Lia stirred beside him, but didn’t move. She was often tired and he didn’t want to wake her up just yet. He didn’t want to worry her with all the thoughts that swirled in his mind as it started a countdown towards the inevitable end of their life in England and a new start in Northern Ireland. He knew that they would only use it as a stop, to allow Lia to birth the litter before moving to the Republic and to be closer to Niall. They would do it, but not until the dust had settled.

He and Lia had noticed the uptick of patrols and police stopping people at random intervals, not just around their streets, but also around Zayn’s parent’s house and downtown Bradford as well. It’s not quite concentrated yet. But Zayn’s mother had frowned deeply when they had discussed the situation while having tea.

“I don’t want to cause either of you alarm, but it is not looking well. It’s starting to tighten down like it did before.”

Her lips tightened before she lifted her mug to drink down a bit of tea, her eyes focused on the liquid before turning them back to a much rounder Lia and to Zayn. Her eyes soften when she looks at her son and his mate, but not quite enough to put either one of them at ease.

Lia swallowed as she smoothed a hand over her bump. Zayn wanted to assure his mother that they were looking for options, but decided to remain quiet and instead, reached for a biscuit instead. His mother had sighed and changed the topic about Zayn’s other siblings and extended.

“Why didn’t you tell your mum about the plan?”

Lia had asked him as he had helped her get settled in bed.

Zayn laid down and spooned around her, wrapping his arm loosely around her.

“It was one thing that they taught me, when I was a child. I never shook off the habit of secrecy, even with them. Maybe a bit with you.”

She turned to look at him, her eyes studying him intently.

“Do you eventually tell me things though?”

Zayn nosed into her hair. “Yes.”

She purred as she turned back and snuggled deeper into the pillow, letting Zayn nose into her shoulder and tighten his grip onto her. He fell asleep like that, curling up around her to protect her and the litter from the outside world, his heart feeling full at the quiet acceptance of his words. She trusted him implicitly and he was overcome by that, since he was sure that no one he knew could do that.

They had taken that away and Zayn wasn’t about to let them do that to her.

So he remained silent as he lay the groundwork for their new lives, giving her only the basics in case they came for her. Already, they had taken a few Omegas from around into questioning and Zayn held no illusions as to why that had happened. So he didn’t take any chances and deliberately kept quiet and waited.

Lia’s stirring kept him from ruminating any longer and he pushed all those thoughts away to focus his full attention on her when she finally opened her eyes and smiled sleepily at him.

~*~*~*~*~

Lia had just washed her hands and the cutting board after slicing up tomatoes and cucumbers for salad when the front door swung open. Lia froze and was about to back away into the bedroom when four heavily geared police entered, leaving her trapped in the kitchen. She swallowed hard and forced herself to remain calm even though she was nearly wetting herself in terror over having her home invaded like this.

She debated talking to them, but the leader saved her the trouble.

“Lia Payne Malik, correct?”

Lia nodded, not trusting her voice to reply.

“Where is your mate?”

“At work. WIth the Bradford Council.”

She replied a bit hoarsely. She was curious about why they were asking her this, but the old training from the matrons and the precious cargo of her litter kept her silent.

He looked at the other police and jerked his head, sending them off to all corners of the house and in moments, Lia heard crashes, bangs and the unmistakeable sound of glass breaking. She let out a startled yell at the sounds, and the leader cut her off by grabbing her face and forcing him to look at her. She tried to slap him away, but he grabbed her wrists and held them tightly, almost crushing her wrists.

“The Facilities already logged in your pregnancy, so we can’t persuade you in other ways. So i’ll ask you again: Where is your mate?”

His thick fingers dug into Lia’s jaw and tears came to her eyes at the pain.

“At work. That’s all I know.”

He squeezed harder, making her whimper out in more pain and tears roll down her face. He let her go when he heard footsteps, but still backhanded her across the face, making blood spurt out of her nose.  Lia slumped and covered her face with her hands, sobbing quietly as she cradled her throbbing nose.

“There’s-Caldwell, what the fuck?”

Caldwell shrugged as he watched the other cop grab a dishtowel, run it under the tap and coax Lia to uncover her face so that he could look at the injury.

“She wasn’t giving me any answers, so I decided to persuade her to see if it would work. As you can see, Weston, it didn’t.”

Weston sighed at that and tilted Lia’s face so he could dab away the blood. He didn’t mind the violence that occasionally came up in his job, but to employ brutality against an Omega, and a pregnant one at that was beyond the pale. He cradled her face tenderly and wiped the blood away, glad to see that despite the blood and swelling, her nose wasn’t broken. He made a mental note to report to the DI when they got to the office. Caldwell had gone too far too often and hitting this poor Omega was the last straw. Especially since she was pregnant and in a wheelchair.

“We didn’t find anything, so it’s time to go. It was a false tip.”

He looked at Lia and through the shock and fear, she noticed his grey eyes were not cruel or harsh and were full of sympathy for her and her plight.

“When the bleeding stops, get some ice on it and you should be fine in a few days.”

Lia only watched him and he let her go, his hands gentle as he moved. Not so gentle when they grabbed Caldwell and shoved him out of the kitchen, followed by the other nameless officers. They exited and closed the useless door behind them and it was only then that Lia broke down.

That was how Ed and Niall found her half an hour later.

~*~*~*~*~

Zayn knew there was something wrong when Niall is waiting for him outside of his job, his face grim. He had had a feeling that something was going to give and he hated that he was right in it happening. He just hoped that Lia and the babies were not harmed. If they were-

He pushed the thoughts away as he went up to Niall.

“Is it Lia? The litter?”

Niall gave a jerky nod before he grabbed Zayn and walked him briskly outside and towards their estate.

“They went to your house and tore it apart. Roughed Lia up a bit. She’s shaken, but fine. The kits are fine. We can’t have a repeat. We’re leaving tonight.”

Zayn expected it, but only nodded.  Niall’s eyes glittered in the dark.

“Everything’s ready. Now here’s what we’ll do…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jamie, Colin, Bradley, and Iwan- I needed characters to fill out the roles so we have Jamie Dornan and Colin Morgan (Northern Irish) Bradley James and Iwan Rheon. Perrie Edwards. Matt and Nathan are OC's. As are the cops.  
> Cops-I'm mostly writing from a Cold War/Latin American dictatorships and it's not a comment or based on anything current.  
> Northern Ireland-It became the destination for Louis since it won't arouse suspicion. Zayn and Lia decide to go there as a jumping off point to eventually each Ireland.


	8. I Realise, That You're The Core of What I Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Travel plans are put in effect and the escape to Northern Ireland comes into play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the penultimate chapter for this story and the next one will be a coda exploring their lives once everything has settled. I wrote this based on stories (some personal, some from friends) who've had to do the same in regards to fleeing. 
> 
> Proofed, but if typos or inconsistencies appear, they shall be fixed up shortly. 
> 
> Title is still from Kaiser Chief's "Parachute"

Ed didn’t bother to open his eyes as Zayn got up once more to stretch and walk down to the loo. The seats on the train weren’t that small, but Ed was sure that it was simply nervousness that had Zayn getting up and pacing up and down the aisle. He couldn’t blame Zayn for being so on edge. After all, it had been the first time that he had been away from Lia in almost seven months. There was also the fact that they were fleeing from their hometown without so much as a goodbye to their families and hoping the gamble that they were taking would work out.

Ed understood Zayn’s worries about his mate. He himself had gone through many sleepless nights waiting for Niall to come home while he worked to get passports and visas to other couples that were seeking to leave England. He knew the ache of not being near a mate and worrying whether the morning would be the last time that he would see them. He understood and sympathised, that was why he didn’t say much of anything as Zayn got up again and walked the edge off of his heightened emotions. 

Ed did shift and check his watch though and breathed an unhappy sigh at the time still left. He wasn’t looking forward to the second leg of the journey, which would have them getting off at Dumfries to take the bus and then a ferry to Belfast. He would have preferred to fly personally, but Niall didn’t want to take the chance that they would get stopped at the boarding gates, since they were specifically gunning for Zayn and Lia. 

It was his concern over his mate and kit that had Zayn going clean shaven and wearing more conservative clothes than he was used to as well as travelling with Ed. Although Lia had repeated over and over again that they had been targeted on a false tip, Niall felt it would be better that they switch mates before leaving the country. Zayn hadn’t quite liked the decision, but had gone along with it.

“I trust you with her safety and her life, Niall. She’s all I’ve got now.” 

Zayn had whispered to Ed’s mate after he had deposited Lia into the waiting car idling in the driveway of Niall’s home. Colin, one of Niall’s colleagues was the one driving out of England. Niall would be the one to take over in Scotland and continue the rest of the way to Belfast port. They had decided on that strategy after what had happened to Lia. If they were hunting down dissidents, Niall was sure that he would be on their list too. 

So they had hatched the plan in a few hours and were leaving early in the morning as to not arouse suspicion. If the neighbours cared to look, it would simply appear as if they were on their way to work and had chosen to do an early morning commune. It was early enough that they wouldn’t arouse suspicion until it was too late to track them down. 

Colin and Zayn though, doubted that was going to be the case, since no one tended to stick their necks out too far when the police had shown up in their estates. They may have been removed from how Britain used to be years ago, but wilful blindness and silence in the face of police had never really gone away. 

Niall had nodded, his face grim as he looked over to Ed, who was getting the last of their stuff packed and put away.

“I know. Just like you’ve got all I have. I’ll do all I can to keep her safe. I hope you know that.”

Niall replied, his eyes and tone deadly serious as he spoke. 

Zayn took a deep breath to ease his nerves and looked at his mate again. Lia’s face was still bruised and swollen, but she was at least calmer than she had been when he had seen her several hours earlier. His blood boiled at the knowledge that she had been abused while he wasn’t at home to protect her. If only he hadn’t been working late, he would have been there. He blamed himself for not being there for her and was relieved that despite the bruises, she was more or less fine, if shaken up. It had taken a strong cup of sweet milky tea and cuddles to get her calmed and somewhat back to normal. But he worried that the incident had left scars on her psyche.

It had enraged him and he hadn’t disagreed with Niall once he had made the decision they would be all leaving that same night. He knew that nothing good would come out of them staying, and even though he felt like a failure for not being there for Lia, he could make up for it by getting her to a safe place. And by never letting anyone hurt her like that ever again.

“I know, or else I wouldn’t be letting her with you. Or putting my blind trust into you.”

Zayn replied hoarsely. Niall grinned, but it wasn’t as wide or as bright as his usual grins. 

“We’ll get out, Zayn. It’s not as dire as all out yet. But we gotta move before it does go that way. In two days, this will be all behind us and you’ll be with Lia again.”

Zayn swallowed hard and brought Niall into a one armed hug before walking to Lia.

“I’ll see you soon, allright?”

Lia nodded, clutching the bag with all of her belongings, which had rolls of pound notes rolled up in the hems of her dresses and hoodies. All of the money that the state had given her in order to build a life with her litter. A life she was now going to build in Belfast. 

“Don’t worry about me. Ed will make sure I toe the line.” 

Lia smiled at that as she leaned forward to look at Ed, who gave a her a thumbs up. 

“I won’t. If you promise to not worry about me as well.”

Zayn’s eyes flashed gold for a moment before he moved forward and scented her for that one last time before they saw each other in Belfast. 

“I’ll see you in Belfast, Zayn.”

It was Zayn’s turn to smile as Colin opened the door for Niall and waved before they drove off to start their journey to Belfast. 

Zayn didn’t watch them and instead had turned to Ed, who was carrying a backpack on his back that contained similar items as Lia’s did. 

“So this is us, yeah?”

Ed snorted as he moved to walk next to Zayn, close, but not quite touching. 

“This is us.”

Zayn smiled and moved closer, bumping shoulders with the other Omega as they walked to the other car that Jamie had procured for their use.

“Yeah, this is us.”

Ed stretched as he pulled his mind back to the present and was pleased when the upcoming station of Dumfries was announced. They had been flying under the radar so far and Ed was hoping that the bus ride and ferry outing would be the same thing. Only a few more hours and they would be in Belfast and he would see Niall again. He gave a sigh of contentment at the thought before his hand brushed against his belly. He wasn’t as far along as Lia, but the bump was still there. He just hoped that he wouldn’t get sea sick, even on such a short journey. 

“Here. I figured you might want to eat something.”

He looked up in time to see Zayn sliding into the seat with some prepackaged sandwiches and juices. 

“Thanks. Much appreciated. Oatmeal’s not a meal, no matter what N-they say.” He corrected himself quickly as he happily took his share and started to tuck in. He had had better, but right now, it hit the spot and he had to admit that he was quite touched that Zayn had thought about fetching him food, even though he didn’t have to. 

Zayn laughed. “I can never understand those people. So is this better than oatmeal then?”

Ed nodded, swallowing his food down before speaking. Zayn smiled fondly at the ginger Omega and continued to eat his own sandwich. He wasn’t Lia, but he sure had a way about him, that was for certain. A charm he had only seen flashes of before. 

A charm that he found himself responding to and easing the worries that had plagued him since the beginning of the journey. 

They would be fine. It would all be fine.

~*~*~*~*

Colin shook her awake, making her let out a startled squeak and sit up clumsily. 

“Border patrol. Get your papers out. Like we practiced and we’ll be fine, okay?”

Lia nodded and got out the passport that Niall had given her half an hour after they had left Bradford. It stated that she was Lyanna Morgan of Armagh, coming home with her cousin for a long overdue visit to her aunt along with her mate, James Hearn. It was a good, solid story and both Niall and Colin were positive that it would pass muster. 

“Sit up a bit, I just need to see your face a bit more clearly. Niall, can you turn on the light back here?”

Colin called out, rummaging into his rucksack as Lia and Niall did as he asked. Her face was looking like usual, but there were still bruises and small contusions that Colin and Niall both scowled at. They both hadn’t said much to Lia about it, not wanting to put her on edge again after getting her in a good mood and state of mind. But Colin had assured Niall he had a plan.

“Why do you need the-Oh. Right. Of course.” Lia muttered as she saw Colin pull out palettes of professional looking makeup, brushes and sponges. 

“Colin...Should I even venture to ask why you have that much makeup on you? Are you secretly an MAC representative or something?”

Colin smirked as he pulled out some cover up and started dabbing it on Lia’s face.

“Nyx actually. I don’t make that much in the theatre. Look up a bit there, Lya, love.”

Niall laughed at that. “Got me there. You think you can get that done fast? The border patrol’s coming on quick.”

Colin snorted. “Please. Oh ye of little faith. Watch.”

Lia could see, once Colin was done, why he had scoffed. He had done an amazing job of covering up the contusions and bruises and making her look fresh and natural and glowing. Something that the Border Patrol noticed as they handed their passports to him and got them scrutinized before they were stamped.

“You’re a lucky man, Mr. Hearn. That Omega is sure something.”

Lia felt the smile on her face freeze into a rictus, but she didn’t dare react badly. They were nearly scot free and she was damned if she was going to let this chance slip away. Even though she was burning in indignation inside, she kept quiet and played the part of the demure Omega as the matron had taught her. She knew from years and years of being institutionalised that fighting would cause more problems, so she was silent. 

Niall made a noise of agreement while squeezing her hand in sympathy while Colin only looked blandly polite at the so called compliment his cousin had received. 

They waited patiently as he scanned and checked each ot the passports, tapping in the information and making them force themselves to remain impassive as the moments ticked by. He put two of the passports aside and kept looking at the last one, making Lia look down at her lap and clench her hands to stop their shaking. She was clenching them so tightly that her knuckles were white when he finally spoke. 

“Lyanna Morgan? I just need to ask where your residence was in the past ten years?”

Lia’s cheeks pinked at the question, despite them rehearsing it over and over again during the long drive. 

“I was in Bradford during that time. I was studying and working in a library when I met my mate.”

She replied quietly, hoping that it would be taken as being shy and demure rather than being scared out of her wits. The officer made a noise of agreement as he made the notes in his file. 

“And when do you expect to be back, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Hearn?”

Niall squeezed her hand again before replying. “We are undecided for the time being and since my Omega is breeding, it could be longer than six months as was originally planned.”

Colin parroted the exact same line and the notations were made before the Border Officer finally closed it and tamped down together and put them together with a rubber band.

“Well, welcome to Northern Ireland.”

He told them as he handed back the passports and waved them on their way. 

“Thank you.” 

Niall was the one to reply as Colin drove them away towards Armagh county and to his childhood home. He kept an eye on the rearview mirror, making sure that the patrol officer wasn’t on the phone or watching after them as he drove and only focused on the road when Niall muttered that it was safe and they were in the clear.

“Too damned close. Too damned close.” 

Colin muttered as they sped off to the highway, making Lia laugh nervously.

“We’ll be fine, Lia. Don’t worry about that. We’ll be fine.”

Lia’s hands unclenched at Niall’s words. “I sure hope so.”

“Save it until Armagh. Then we’ll know for sure.” Colin muttered as the road spooled on in front of them.

Lia sighed and Niall growled. 

~*~*~*~*

It was late in the evening when Colin pulled into his childhood home, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the porch light and front room lights on. There was only his mam’s old car in the driveway and the street looked like he remembered: Kids kicking a ball around, teenagers perched on fences and the occasional old biddy walking out. It was so normal and so unlike what they had left in England that it nearly made him want to cry right there. It looked like  _ home _ and he hoped that after this was done, Bradley would consent to moving here with him instead. They had helped so many Omegas, couples, and families flee, he hoped that maybe now, it would be time for them to have that happiness for themselves. 

He took a deep breath and shook his head to clear his thoughts and compose himself. That would happen soon, yet right now, he needed to get Lia and Niall inside and get them settled. 

He looked over at Niall, who was picking up Lia and making sure that her arms were around his neck as he carefully shuffled out of the car. Her expression was guarded and exhausted and Colin was sure that it had to do something with her current state and the adrenaline crash after the border. Getting out the wheelchair would have to wait until they had gotten the other suitcases that they had prepared for their travels. He didn’t want to draw as much attention as they were already doing. 

He got out of the car then and went around to see if Niall needed any help with Lia. 

“Can you get the wheelchair, Colin? I can’t have James ferrying me all the time.”

Lia asked as Niall carefully carried her to the front door, balancing her with one arm under her bum as he fished out the house’s keys out of his jacket and opened the door just in time before he overbalanced. 

Lia clung tightly to Niall while clamping her lips shut tightly in case she screamed. Her heart was beating wildly as flashbacks of the first horrible months after the crash came back to her. Of being helpless as she had to relearn how her body worked after being broken and how much assistance she needed to do even the most basic tasks. It had been the reason why she had pushed herself so much in rehab and still worked at it. She never wanted to feel so out of control as she had and blindly trust someone as they held her in their arms. 

Niall felt her tense up and he made a soft noise to comfort her, adjusting his grip as he walked further into the house until she was secure in his arms again. He held her and crooned softly at her to ease her distress.

“I’ve got you. I’ve got you and Colin’s got-Zayn?”

She looked up and chirruped in surprise when she saw her mate standing there with Ed behind him. Both looked weary and travel-stained, but they were both in one piece looking no worse for the wear. 

“Oh Jesus, Thank Fuck you’re both here! Zayn!”

Lia exclaimed as her mate stepped up and grabbed her from Niall, his arms tight around her before he kissed her hungrily, tongues and lips and teeth clashing before settling down in a languorous kiss before they broke apart for air.

“We’re free now, Lia. We’re finally fucking free.”


	9. The World Is Full Of Refugees, They're Just Like You And Just Like Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After fleeing England and settling in Armagh, Zayn, Lia and the rest finally find out what happened to Louis and Harry in the meantime.

The doorbell rang just as Bradley was putting the roast in the oven and Lia had just started nursing one of the kits. Zayn was in the living room, putting the last touches on one of his paintings and had put the brush down when Colin ran past him.

They had been waiting for news of Louis and Harry, who had been strangely quiet. With Zayn and Lia more or less fugitives, they couldn’t go digging as much as they wanted and had relied on Niall and Colin and the rest of the network to find out anything. But so far, they had only gotten snippets that made no sense. Some claimed that Louis and Harry had been arrested. Other claimed they had gone to Cornwall. Still others said that they were somewhere in Belfast. Nothing was conclusive, so despite the dangers, Zayn always went for the door in hopes that Louis had somehow met up with Iwan or Jamie and had found them.

But this time, Colin was faster and closer to the door and got to it first.

“I got it!” He called out as he skidded to a stop and pulled the door open to reveal a thin, nervous looking Alpha with striking blue eyes, stubble that barely hid the livid scars on the left side of his face, soft brown hair and a careworn expression. An expression that turned hopeful when he looked up at Colin. 

“Can I help you?”

Colin asked, his tone neutral as he studied the Alpha standing on his front stoop.  He had a feeling he had seen him before, but nothing was really clicking at that moment. The eyes maybe? He couldn’t pin it down. Especially not with how careworn and battered the Alpha looked.

“I...Uhm...I was told that Zayn and Lia live here?”

Colin forced himself to maintain the bland expression on his face despite his heart starting to beat wildly in his chest. 

“Depends on who is asking. What did you say your name was again?” 

The Alpha swallowed hard before he replied. “Louis. Louis Tomlinson. Over in that car is my mate, Harry Styles and…” He swallowed again and a look of pain crossed his face. “My th-two kits. Please...We...We’re friends of theirs. We just…”

Colin knew that the man, Louis, wasn’t lying and he recalled Niall and Zayn briefly discussing a friend of theirs from Bradford. The one that he and Iwan had been making inquiries about and had nearly given up looking for, thinking him dead. It was then that it clicked and he figured out that this was the one and the same. It was Louis.

“Who is it, Colin?” 

Zayn asked as he appeared behind Colin, his hands clutching a rag that he dropped when he saw Louis standing there. 

“LOUIS! Fucking hell!! Louis! Where the fuck have you been, mate? Come here!”

Zayn shouted as he pushed past Colin and swept up the smaller Alpha in a backbreaking hug. 

“Zayn! Zayn! Christ! It’s good to see you!” Louis exclaimed, clutching Zayn’s shirt tightly with fingers that Colin saw had been broken and reset poorly. He winced at the sight of them, but schooled his expression when they pulled apart and Zayn cradled Louis’s sharply angled face in his hands. 

Zayn studied his battered face and Louis, despite his determination to stay strong and not show how much the last four months had taken a toll on him, started to cry. Tears rolled down his face unbidden as Zayn’s face crumpled in sympathy as he wiped the tears away with his thumbs. 

He made a low, crooning noise in his throat, getting Louis to lean into him and calm down long enough for Zayn to ask the question he was dreading asking. 

“Where’s Harry? The kits?”

Louis looked to the driveway where a pretty battered and barely staying together car was parked. He nodded to it and Harry got out. He looked as worn and bruised as Louis and painfully thin as well. The long wool peacoat he wore couldn’t hide the fact that he was pregnant again and that one sleeve hung empty. His movements were slow and awkward as he planted his feet on the driveway. He opened the back door of the car and let out two very small kits who looked at the world with wide green eyes full of distrust and fear.

“What happened?” 

Colin and Zayn breathed out as they watched Harry slowly make his way over to the door, his kits clinging tightly to the skirt of the coat. 

“Too much to talk about standing at the door. May we come in?”

Colin moved away from the door and Zayn led Louis inside. Colin then offered his arm to Harry, who looked up at him with wide eyes. Colin waited and sure enough, Harry grasped his arm, leaning heavily into him as they made their way to the sitting room, which now contained Bradley, Lia and her litter. 

“Oh my god! Louis! Harry! Oh my god! What happened to you? Colin, help Harry and the kits will you? Bradley, can you get them some tea?”

Lia exclaimed, moving up to Louis and Harry and taking turns embracing both of them. 

“We were so worried!” Lia murmured, wiping the tears that had rolled down Harry’s face with her thumb, unknowingly echoing the same action her mate had done to Louis. The tender touch and the honest concern made his composure finally shatter.  Harry sniffled and clung tightly to Lia, despite having to lean down uncomfortably to do so. 

“Shh...It’s allright. It’s going to be allright. We’ll help you make it allright.”

Lia crooned, pulling him down to sit on her lap so that she could help soothe and start to heal him from whatever mistreatment had been visited upon him. Harry curled up in her lap as much as he was able and quietly sobbed into her shoulder as she rubbed large circles on his back. 

Louis looked at Zayn and without a word, Zayn scooped him up and held him tightly, murmuring a wordless song as he too, finally broke. Bradley and Colin took the kits and carried them into the kitchen, promising them milk and cookies while leaving their parents to start being healed by their friends.

~*~*~*~*

Lia had been careful to not prod Harry once matters of his health and getting him and the kits settled down had been sorted. She hadn’t known him very well before and didn’t want to overstep her boundaries with him or Louis, who had ended up clinging to Zayn and Bradley, to some extent. Colin and Bradley had taken responsibility for the kits and that had eased the burden on Harry and Louis, giving them all some space and time to start the steps to start healing from their ordeal.  So she stayed with him unless he wanted to be left alone or was sleeping, but never pressed him for information.

It wasn’t until four days had passed, when Lia was nursing her four kits that Harry addressed the situation. 

“We were on our way out, when they stopped us.” 

Harry said, his voice clear and low as he spoke, making Lia look up from the kit nursing at her breast to look at him in surprise. She had many questions, but she knew that if she asked them, she’d make Harry shut down and retreat inside of himself again.

“They arrested us and held us outside of Leeds for months in those cells.”

He looked down at his hands as he spoke. His body shook and Lia was about to tell him that he didn’t have to continue, but he kept on going.

“It was cold and damp and we all got sick. Alice…”

He trailed off, a sob escaping him and making Lia impulsively reach out and grab his uninjured hand. He looked up at her then and smiled a brittle smile. 

“Harry...You don’t have to tell me anymore if you don’t want to.”

He nodded. “Thank you. But I want to. I  _ have _ to. Louis...They took him away from us. They did so much to him. He didn’t know Alice died until later.  They wouldn’t let him see us until we got released.”

Lia went cold then and looked at Harry’s swollen belly, making him flush pink.

“The baby is Louis’. No. They knew better than to do that.”

Harry replied quickly, shivering at the thought of  _ that  _ happening to him. They had wanted to, he could tell. But they had at least showed that much restraint and had settled for slapping him around and breaking his arm right before he was reunited with Louis.

“Did you find out why they grabbed you guys?”

Lia asked quietly. 

Harry nodded. 

“It was one of Louis’ relatives that sold us out.”

~*~*~*~

“But why? Why would they do that to you?”

Zayn asked, once Louis had told him everything in a low, hushed voice. 

“To keep us in the country and not break up the pack? To keep the kits there? I don’t know and I won’t ask. I’m done with them.”

Louis stated vehemently, wrapping his coat tighter around his thin frame. 

“I don’t blame you, Lou. Not after everything that happened. Not after Alice.”

Louis nodded, his breathing ragged and he tried to rein in the grief over his kit.

“We left after that. Got everything we could and just left. If it hadn’t been for Iwan, Jamie and Niall, I doubt we would have gotten so far.” 

He shook his head, sighing heavily at that. “I just wish that Alice hadn’t paid the price for it.”

Zayn put his arm around Louis’ shoulders and pulled him closer, embracing him tightly.

“I’m sorry for your loss. We didn’t know, since we had to leave after Lia got roughed up.”

Louis sighed heavily at that. 

“I’m not blaming you, Zayn. Don’t think that. I’m blaming them and those fuckers that ratted us out. After what they did to us, I don’t blame you for not waiting. You were smart to not tell anyone. I wasn’t smart enough and look what happened.”

His breathing got ragged and he started to cry.

Zayn held him tighter and pressed a gentle kiss onto Louis’ forehead. He didn’t know what else to say, other than to reassure his friend it wasn’t his fault. No one would have guessed that his own family would have turned on him nor would they have guessed the outcome. 

“It wasn’t your fault, Louis. You did your best and it will hurt what happened. But you are not to blame. You tried and are still trying and in time, you’ll hopefully see that like I do.”

Louis nodded as he kept on grieving for his lost kit, letting Zayn hold him until he had calmed down enough to stand on his own two feet.

“Thank you.”

“No problem. Shall we go inside and get a cuppa?”

Louis snorted wetly, but didn’t refute the offer as they went inside the house. 

“Just in time! Zayn, you want to get the kettle? Colin, you got the biscuits?”

Bradley called out while Ed and Lia set the table. 

“You all right, Lou?”

Harry asked, sidling up to his mate and wrapping his arm around his waist. Louis turned to look at him and noticed the redness of his eyes. Yet Harry’s eyes weren’t the pools of sadness that they had been for the past while. The sadness was still there, but it was tempered by a calmness that hadn’t been there before. It was faint, but it made Louis’s own grief lessen a bit more. Talking to Zayn had been the first step  and seeing Harry not as hopelessly sunk into his grief was helping as well.

“Not yet. But I think I will be. Eventually. You, Haz?”

Louis asked, leaning into him more. 

“I will be. Someday.”

Louis leaned in and rested his head on Harry’s shoulder as they watched Colin and Bradley banter, while Zayn leaned over Lia to kiss her temple. Ed and Niall were putting the kits in their baskets while teasing each other during the tasks.

It wasn’t quite what they thought they’d find in Northern Ireland, yet it was more than they expected after the brutality and loss at Leeds.

They didn’t just get a place to stay while things got sorted. Rather, they got home with people that cared about them and most importantly, trust.  That was all that mattered, Louis noted, catching Lia and Zayn’s eyes.

They smiled at him and he knew he was right. He looked at Harry and got a slight nod in return.  They would be alright here. They were home now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised after I had written chapter that I needed to have a coda that tied everyone's future together as well as showing what happened to Louis and Harry. I got the idea for their fate afterwards, making it a bittersweet ending. I was aware that not everyone was going to get out unscathed and them getting betrayed, in the place that they lived, made sense. 
> 
> I didn't want it to be all horrible, though and wanted for them to have some kind of hope in the end in finding each other and creating a community in Armagh. 
> 
> Proofed and edited, but if errors show up, they will be fixed. 
> 
> Title is from Manic Street Preacher's "If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next."


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